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MM.-....S.IiAKESPEAEE.. 


EXPURGATED 


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THE  GIFT  OF 

MAY  TREAT  MORRISON 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

ALEXANDER  F  MORRISON 

THE   LIFE    OF 

WILLIAM    SHAKESPEARE 

EXPURGATED 


THE  ORIGINAL  MONUMENT  AT  STRATFORD 

(From  Sir  Wm.  Dugdale's  "  History  of  the  Antiquities  of  Warwickshire  ") 


5  J    >    > 


>  > 

>  »       »     \'        »  »   >  ,        >       ' 


THE  LIFE  OF 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 

EXPURGATED 


BY 


WILLIAM    LEAVITT    STODDARD 

(M.A.,  HARVARD) 


"Non  canimus  surdis." 


i  i  L^i  i\  /     /'.  \       .      A  ■;     ill'. 


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J  3  >  >  -> 


^,j«  J«l3j)»j 


>  J        J    J  J  J   ,  '  ■•    ',     '  ' 

BOSTON 

W.  A.  BUTTERFIELD 

59   Bromfield   Street 
1910 


f      « 


Copyright,  1910 
By  William  Leavitt  Stoddard 


c     t    •» 
f      (-    .1  « 


t  t,    o  •■  e 


•       c.*c        t  re 

.    r      «     •       «    (       f      , 


GEO.    H.    ELLIS    CO.,    PRINTERP,    BOSTON 


PROLOGUE 

"It  seems  a  kind  of  respect  due  to  the  memory 
of  excellent  men,  especially  of  those  whom  their 
wit  and  learning  have  made  famous,  to  deliver 
some  account  of  themselves,  as  well  as  of  their 
works,  to  posterity.  For  this  reason,  how  fond 
do  we  see  some  people  of  the  great  men  of  an- 
tiquity; their  families,  the  common  accidents  of 
their  lives,  and  even  their  shape,  make,  and 
features  have  been  the  subject  of  critical  enquiries. 
How  trifling  soever  this  curiosity  may  seem  to  be, 
it  is  certainly  very  natural;  and  we  are  hardly 
satisfied  with  an  account  of  any  remarkable  per- 
son till  we  have  heard  him  described  to  the  very 
clothes  he  wears.  As  for  what  relates  to  men  of 
letters,  the  knowledge  of  an  author  may  sometimes 
conduce  to  the  better  understanding  of  his  book, 
and  though  the  works  of  Mr.  Shakespeare  may 
seem  to  many  not  to  want  a  cominent,  yet  I  fancy 
some  little  account  of  the  man  himself  may  not 
he  thought  improper. ^^ — From  Nicholas  Rowe's 
Account  of  the  Life  of  Shakespeare,  1709. 

"I  have  not  sought,  (/  say)  nor  do  I  seek  either 
to  force  or  ensnare  men's  judgments,  but  I  lead 
them  to  things  themselves  and  the  concordances 
of  things,  that  they  may  .see  for  themselves  what 
they  have,  what  they  can  dispute,  what  they  can 
add  and  contribute  to  the  common  stock.  And 
for  myself,  if  in  anything  I  have  been  either  too 


iv  Prologue 

credulous  or  too  little  awake  and  attentive,  or  if 
I  have  fallen  off  by  the  way  and  left  the  inquiry 
incomplete,  nevertheless  I  so  present  these  things 
naked  and  open,  that  my  errors  can  he  marked 
and  set  aside  before  the  mass  of  knowledge  be 
further  infected  by  them.^^ — From  Francis 
Bacon's  Preface  to  the  Great  Instauration 
(Spedding's  translation) . 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Prologue iii 

Concerning     Other     ''Lives     of     Shake- 
speare"     1 

John  Shakespeare  in  the  Records   ....  12 

William  Shakespeare  in  the  Records     .    .  14 

Shakespeare's  Will 23 

Poems  ascribed  to  Shakespeare  of  Strat- 
ford    29 

Contemporary   Allusions,    Real   and    Sup- 
posed, TO  William  Shakespeare     ...  33 
Evidences  from  the  Plays  and  Poems    .    .  57 

The  First  Folio 62 

Epilogue 67 

Bibliography 69 

Index 75 


THE   LIFE    OF 

WILLIAM    SHAKESPEARE 

EXPURGATED 


Chapter  One. 

CONCERNING  OTHER   ^' LIVES  OF 
SHAKESPEARE." 

Like  most  men  of  my  generation,  I  have  never 
been  able  from  any  one  volume  to  obtain  a 
clear  idea  of  Shakespeare:*  with  the  works 
bearing  that  name  I  could  and  did  become 
reasonably  familiar  and  greatly  pleased,  but  of 
the  man  who  wrote  them  I  was  for  a  long  time 
ignorant.  Naturally,  I  turned  for  information 
to  the  biographies  of  the  poet-actor.  But  I 
was  doomed  to  a  disappointment.  For  there, 
in  the  welter  of  quoted,  copied,  and  sometimes 
photographed  documents,  among  '^ allusions" 
that  alluded  to  Shakespeare  and  ''allusions" 
that  did  not  allude  to  him  at  all,  in  the  confu- 
sion of  skilfully  deployed  adverbs  implying 
various  degrees  of  uncertainty  in  the  mind  of 
the  biographer  (as,  ''doubtless,"  "probably," 
"credibly,"  and  their  kind),  in  the  tangle  of  ar- 
guments supporting  now  one  theory  of  author- 
ship and  now  another,  I  felt  myself  strangely 
lost,  like  a  person  who  searches  in  vain  through 

*  Throughout  this  book  I  have  adopted  the  lazy  expedient  of 
spelUng  Shakespeare  in  this  fashion.  I  am  aware  that  William 
Shakespeare  of  Stratford  is  not  known  to  have  employed  this 
orthography,  and  I  am  aware  that  many  of  the  plays  and  poems 
appeared  with  the  hyphenated  signature,  which,  as  far  as  I  can 
discover,  William  Shakespeare  of  Stratford  never  employed.  It 
seemed  best,  all  in  all,  to  adhere  to  a  simple  convention. 


«  e      «    « 


.1^.  v':-!  William  Shakespeare 

a  volume  for  something  which  the  title-page 
has  promised  to  include,  but  which  he  cannot 
find.  At  the  end  of  an  armful  of  books  I  was, 
if  anything,  farther  away  from  the  man  Shake- 
speare than  when  I  began. 

What,  for  example,  did  Shakespeare  do  when 
he  was  a  boy?  Where  did  he  go  to  school, — 
not  where  did  he  '' doubtless"  go,  but  where 
really  ?  Who  were  his  chums,  and  later  his 
friends;  and  why  no  letters  from  him  to  them? 
Why  did  he  not  publish  his  own  plays,  or  at 
least  prevent  wholesale  piracy  and  the  despair 
of  modern  editors?  How  could  a  man  be  so 
careful  about  his  second-best  bed  and  so  care- 
less about  his  poetry?  I  can  never  be  certain 
whether  the  young  man  of  the  sonnets  was  Mary 
Fitton  or  Mr.  W.  H. — there  are  arguments 
for  both — or  whether  Mr.  W.  H.  was  one  whose 
initials,  as  some  insist,  were  not  W.  H.  at  all, 
but  out  of  quite  another  part  of  the  alphabet. 

In  lieu  of  reconciling  all  the  divergent  and 
vigorously  debated  opinions  about  Shakespeare, 
it  became  my  amusement  to  test  each  new 
biography  of  the  poet  on  one  subject:  Did 
Shakespeare  poach?  Are  we  this  year,  or  are 
we  not,  to  believe  the  story?  On  the  face  of 
it,  it  is  extremely  probable  that  a  countryman 
of  twenty  odd  years  should  steal  deer  and  be 
thrashed  for  it.  But,  on  the  face  of  it,  again, 
it  is  extremely  improbable  that  the  greatest 
and  most  learned  poet  in  the  language  should, 
a  married  man  with  a  growing  family,  fall  into 


Other  "Lives  of  Shakespeare'^  3 

such  ways.     Still,  who  can  tell?    What  have 
the  biographers  done  with  the  story? 

My  experience  is  that  the  authenticity  of  the 
yarn  depends  on  the  biography  of  the  moment. 
One  is  reminded  of  a  clever  Frenchman  who, 
discussing  certain  phases  of  the  Shakespeare 
sonnets,  remarked  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes: — 

''Enfin  M.  Gerald  Massey  .  .  .  soulagea  d'un 
grand  pois  la  conscience  Anglaise  en  desinfectant, 
c'est  lui-meme  qui  s'en  vante,  les  sonnets  de 
Shakespeare.  Le  procede  de  desinfection  con- 
sistait,  tout  simplement  a  diviser  arbitrairement 
les  sonnets  en  personnels  et  en  dramatiques. 
Etaient  personnels  tous  ceux  qui,  d'apres  le 
code  moral  de  M.  Massey,  etaient  compatibles 
avec  la  dignite  et  la  veriu  de  Shakespeare. 
Tous  les  autres  etaient  dramatiques.  .  .  .  Ainsi 
s'expliquait  Fenigme,  ainsi  tombait  le  scandale. 
Shakespeare  etait  rendu  blanc  comme  neige 
a  la  pieuse  admiration  des  Anglais." 

Very  similar  is  the  case  with  the  ''deer  steal- 
ing prank."  It  has  always,  strangely  enough, 
been  considered  one  offence.  The  sources  agree 
in  giving  the  impression  that  it  was  more  than 
one,  if  not  several.  It  may  be  ''doubtless" 
true  that  Shakespeare  was  caught  but  once, 
if  at  all,  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  word 
"prank"  should  be  made  plural.  Let  us  look 
into  the  origin  of  the  story. 

Nicholas  Rowe  was  a  play-writer  of  Queen 
Anne's  time.  In  1709  he  published  an  account 
of  the  life  of  Shakespeare.     His  information,  he 


4  William  Shakespeare 

says,  came  mainly  from  the  actor  Betterton. 
About  1690  (?)  (Shakespeare  died  in  1616) 
Betterton  went  down  to  Warwickshire  to  learn 
what  he  could  about  Shakespeare.  Now  Rowe, 
who  had  obtained  his  information  from  Bet- 
terton, who  in  turn  had  obtained  his  in  War- 
wickshire at  a  time  when  every  one  who  had 
personally  known  Shakespeare  was  either 
seventy-four  years  old,  older,  or  dead,  wrote  as 
follows:* — (1) 

'^He  had,  by  a  misfortune  common  enough  to 
young  fellows,  fallen  into  ill  company;  and 
amongst  them,  some  that  made  a  frequent 
practice  of  deer-stealing  engaged  him  with  them 
more  than  once  in  robbing  a  park  belonging  to 
Sir  Thomas  Lucy  of  Cherlecot  [sic],  near  Strat- 
ford. For  this  he  was  persecuted  by  that  gentle- 
man, as  he  thought,  somewhat  too  severely; 
and  in  order  to  revenge  that  ill  usage,  he 
made  a  ballad  upon  him." 

This  story  received  what  a  more  recent 
biographer  calls  an  important  because  inde- 
pendent corroboration  in  some  notes  written 
between  1690  and  1708  by  Richard  Davies, 
a  rector  in  Gloucestershire.  William  Fulman, 
whoever  he  was,  bequeathed  to  Davies  some 
scraps  of  writing,  little  more  than  the  dates 
of  birth  and  death,  about  Shakespeare.  The 
parson  augmented  these  notes  by  adding  (where 
he  learned  these  items  I  do  not  know) :  "Much 
given  to  all  unluckiness  in  stealing  venison  and 

*  The  numerals  in  parentheses  refer,  by  chapters,  to  the  corre- 
sponding numerals  in  the  Bibliography  at  the  back  of  the  book. 


Other  ^^ Lives  of  Shakespeare^^  5 

rabbits,  particularly  from  Sir  .  .  .  Lucy,  who 
had  him  oft  whipped  and  sometimes  imprisoned, 
and  at  last  made  him  fly  his  native  country 
to  his  great  advancement,  but  his  revenge  was 
so  great  that  he  is  his  Justice  Clodpate*  and 
calls  him  a  great  man,  and  that  in  allusion  to 
his  name  bore  three  louses  rampant  for  his 
arms."  (2)  Shakespeare,  Archdeacon  Davies 
adds,  died  a  papist.  So  far  as  I  am  aware, 
this  last  statement  has  not  been  widely  per- 
petuated. Why?  It  might  serve  to  explain 
certain  Romish  passages  in  the  plays. 

But  these  are  the  documents — and  the  only 
known  early  documents — bearing  on  the  Lucy 
legend.  How  to  determine  its  truth  or  falsity  ? 
Let  us  see. 

One  gentleman,  with  spectacles  and  a  per- 
plexed brow,  writes,  ''Doubtless,!  this  tradi- 
tion may  be  dismissed  as  scarcely  credible. 
Who  can  conceive  of  the  creator  of  Hamlet, 
the  author  of  'Lear'  and  'Macbeth,'  the  poet 
of  the  sonnets  and  'Cymbeline,'  albeit  in 
the  flush  and  prime  of  youth,  so  far  forgetting 
his  high  destiny  as"  .  .  .  and  so  on  to  the  demoli- 
tion of  a  respectable  mouth-to-mouth  tradition. 
Another  historian,  of  a  less  moral  turn,  considers 
the  poaching  incident  as  "probably  authentic," 
and  warns  his  readers  not  to  judge  Shakespeare 
too  hastily  for  this  "boyish  escapade."     We  all 

*  Justice  Clodpate  was  a   character  in '  the  comedy  of  "  Epsom 
Welle." 

t  Doubtless,  Free  from  doubt  or  uncertainty,  undoubted,  indubi- 
table. .  .  .  Often  in  a  weaker  sense. — Oxford  Dictionary. 


6  William  Shakespeare 

at  times  have  felt  like  poaching.  Humanum 
est  errare.  I  believe  that  this  is  the  view 
held  to-day  by  the  ''consensus  of  scholarly 
opinion." 

The  word  play  on  ''luce"  in  "The  Merry 
Wives,"  the  possible  similarity  between  Justice 
Shallow  in  the  same  play  and  Sir  Thomas 
Lucy,  the  fact  that  Shakespeare  has  been 
credited  with  some  scurrilous  verses  against 
that  knight,  and  that  the  poaching  story  is  the 
only  glimmer  of  light  between  the  marriage 
of  Shakespeare  and  his  appearance  in  London 
have  done  much  to  confirm  the  orthodox 
theory  of  the  incident.  Other  information 
derivable  from  Rowe  and  Davies,  not  having 
such  support,  has  been  accepted  or  discarded 
less  elaborately,  after  the  manner  of  Mr. 
Gerald  Massey,  mentioned  a  page  or  so  back. 

On  one  occasion  it  was  discovered  that  there 
was  no  deer  park  in  Stratford  in  Shakespeare's 
time.  (3)  This  is  not  a  matter  of  conjecture, 
but  of  fact  and  record.  Since,  then,  there  was 
no  enclosure,  deer  came  under  the  head  of  ferae 
naturae,  and  might  be  killed  by  whoso  willed 
and  could  shoot  straight.  This,  again,  is  not 
a  matter  of  conjecture,  but  of  fact  and  record. 
But, — here  is  the  reason  (so  I  think)  why  this 
highly  apochryphal  legend  has  been  retained 
in  spite  of  its  obvious  falsity, — if  the  Lucy  in- 
cident is  not  true,  how  can  the  rest  of  Mr. 
Nicholas  Rowe's  biography  be  trusted,  and  how 
account  for  the  joke  in  "The  Merry  Wives" 
unless  on  the  assumption  that  any  one  might 


Other  "Lives  of  Shakespeare^'  7 

have  made  it,  poacher  in  Lucy's  domain  or 
not?  And,  without  Rowe  and  Davies,  Shake- 
spearean life-writing  is  a  strain  on  the  imagina- 
tion.    The  dilemma  is  perfect. 

Some  one  recently  proposed  the  following 
solution.  In  Archdeacon  Davies'  story  it  was 
said  that  Shakespeare  was  unlucky  in  stealing 
rabbits  as  well  as  venison,  and  ''particularly 
from  Sir  .  .  .  Lucy."  Now,  as  a  rule,  the  term 
''warren"  apphes  to  rabbits,  not  to  deer. 
Sidney  Lee,  in  discussing  this  very  matter, 
says  that  Sir  Thomas  Lucy  owned  a  warren  at 
Charlecote.  I  do  not  question  the  truth  of 
this  statement:  I  have  not  seen  the  evidence. 
The  explanation  is  simple  and  logical.  There 
was  no  deer  park,  ergo  no  deer.  But  there  was 
a  warren,  ergo  rabbits.  The  line  in  "The  Tam- 
ing of  the  Shrew,"  therefore,  "I  knew  a  wench 
married  in  an  afternoon  as  she  went  to  the 
garden  for  parsley  to  stuff  a  rabbit,"  is  hence- 
forth invested  with  the  aroma  of  a  personal 
reminiscence.  And  Moth's  remark  in  "Love's 
Labor's  Lost"  about  "your  arms  crossed  on 
your  thin-belly  doublet  like  a  rabbit  on  a  spit" 
may  well  recall  the  more  savory  results  of  the 
deed.  In  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  con- 
trary such  may  be  the  true  interpretation  of 
the  little  anecdote.  My  informant  is  Mr. 
Joseph  Butts. 

I  have  been  further  puzzled  in  my  readings 
of  the  biographies  of  our  national  poet  to  find 
out  not  what,  but  how  much  is  alleged  as  known 


8  William  Shakespeare 

about  the  object  of  our  quest.  In  the  absence 
of  quality,  quantity  has  had  to  suffice.  Mr. 
Fleay,  himself  a  writer  of  note  on  Shakespeare, 
once  said  of  a  collection  of  allusions  to  Shake- 
speare, ''nominate  and  innominate,"  as  some 
one  has  phrased  it: — 

"They  consist  almost  entirely  of  slight  ref- 
erences to  his  published  works,  and  have  no 
bearing  of  importance  on  his  career.  Nor, 
indeed,  have  we  any  extensive  material  of  any 
kind  to  aid  us  in  this  investigation;  one  source 
of  information,  which  is  abundant  for  most 
of  his  contemporaries,  being  in  his  case  entirely 
absent*  Neither  as  addressed  to  him  by 
others,  nor  by  him  to  others,  do  any  com- 
mendatory verses  exist  in  connection  with 
any  of  his  or  any  other  men's  works  pub- 
lished in  his  lifetime — a  notable  fact,  in  what- 
ever way  it  may  be  explained.  Nor  can  he 
be  traced  in  any  personal  contact  beyond  a 
very  limited  circle,  although  the  fanciful  might- 
have-beens  so  largely  indulged  in  by  his  biog- 
raphers might  at  first  lead  us  to  an  opposite 
conclusion." 

The  second  aspect  of  the  matter  is  presented 
by  Sidney  Lee,  who  reniarks:  ''The  scantiness 
of  contemporary  records  of  Shakespeare's  ca- 
reer has  been  much  exaggerated.  An  in- 
vestigation extending  over  two  centuries  has 
brought  together  a  mass  of  detail  which  far 
exceeds  that  accessible  in  the  case  of  any 
other     contemporary    writer.  .  .  .    The    fully 

*  My  italics. 


Other  ^^ Lives  of  Shakespeare^^  9 

ascertained  facts  are  numerous  enough  to  define 
sharply  the  general  direction  that  Shakespeare's 
career  followed." 

Which,  Mr.  Fleay  or  Mr.  Lee,  is  right?  And 
what,  expurgated  and  stripped  of  ail  the  super- 
imposed biographical  rhetoric  and  imaginations, 
are  those  facts  about  Shakespeare? 

In  the  following  skeleton  account  of  Shake- 
speare I  have  included,  according  to  the  stern- 
est canons  of  academic  practice  and  literary 
orthodoxy,  every  available  scrap  of  informa- 
tion about  Shakespeare  between  1564  and 
1616.  With  material  of  later  date  I  have 
been  more  arbitrary.  If  there  are  flagrant 
omissions,  they  are  due  to  my  carelessness 
or  to  the  fact  that  it  was  impossible  to 
get  certain  information.  I  have  worked,  and 
with  reasonable  consistency,  on  the  hypoth- 
esis that,  in  order  to  be  admitted  within  this 
catalogue,  each  record  or  allusion  to  Shake- 
speare must,  in  one  spelling  or  another,  bear 
the  name  Shakespeare.  Thus  much  matter 
of  the  purely  conjectural  variety  has  been 
wholly  eliminated.  And  when  it  is  further 
realized  that  in  several  Elizabethan  and 
Jacobean  allusions  to  the  plays  Shakespeare's 
name  was  not  included,  and  that  Henslowe, 
a  joint  proprietor  of  the  Rose  and  several  other 
theatres  where  many  of  the  great  dram^as  were 
produced,  in  the  eighteen  years  of  his  diary 
(1591-1609)  failed  once  to  speak  of  Shakespeare, 
— when  these  items  are  recalled,  few  readers 


10  William  Shakespeare 

will  be  surprised  at  the  barrenness  of  the  re- 
sults herein  set  forth.  The  allusions  to  and 
records  of  Shakespeare  being,  as  Mr.  Fleay 
has  suggested,  curiously  sparse,  any  comparison 
of  the  physical  bulk  of  this  volume  with  that  of 
other  lives  of  Shakespeare  must  be  compli- 
mentary to  me. 

Lately  people  have  been  questioning  the 
identity  of  William  Shakespeare,  the  actor,  of 
Stratford,  with  William  Shakespeare,  the  poet 
and  playwright.  Arguments  of  spelling  have 
had  their  force,  and  are  not  without  importance; 
but  from  them  we  can  expect  little  that  is  defi- 
nite. Arguments  from  probability,  human  and 
fictitious,  merging  into  arguments  of  analogy, 
also  lend  their  weight  to  the  controversy. 
Even  a  rival  candidate  in  Lord  Verulam  has 
won  many  adherents.  It  is  chiefly,  however, 
to  clarify  the  atmosphere  that  the  device  of 
this  book  *  has  been  resorted  to.  Strictly 
speaking,  I  have  prepared  no  argument  at  all, 
but  a  tabular  view  of  the  ascertained  facts, — 
the  existing  ''accepted"  facts  concerning  the 
two  Williams;    and,  where  there  is  a  chance 

*  I  have  been  of  two  minds  whether  to  use  "unexpurgated"  or 
"expurgated"  in  the  title  of  this  book.  Neither  is  a  usual  word 
for  such  a  purpose,  and  neither  wholly  expresses  what  I  mean.  I 
have  presented  the  life  of  Shakespeare  unexpurgated  in  so  far  as 
I  have  included  matter  commonly  omitted  (as  in  the  case  of  the 
Northumberland  Manuscript),  hitherto  glossed  over  (as  in  the 
case  of  the  Manningham  story),  or  commonly  relegated  to  a  foot- 
note (as  in  the  case  of  the  epitaph  on  Ben  Jonson).  But  in  the 
main  I  have  presented  the  life  of  Shakespeare  expurgated  of  all 
the  tissue  of  surmises,  doubts,  likelihoods,  and  other  text  which 
tends  to  obscure  the  vision  of  one  who  is  trying  to  select  for  himself 
the  known  facts  and  draw  for  himself  his  own  conclusions. 


Other  Lives  of  "Shakespeare^^  11 

that  the  one  might  be  or  has  been  confounded 
with  the  other,  I  have  tried  to  unravel  the 
mystery.  I  have  believed  that  it  is  the  prov- 
ince of  the  biographer  not  to  imagine,  ''portray," 
or  omit,  but  merely  to  present  and  occasionally 
to  explain. 


Chapter  Two. 

JOHN  SHAKESPEARE   IN  THE 
RECORDS. 

In  this  chapter  I  have  selected  only  those 
records  of  John  Shakespeare  of  Stratford  which 
afford  either  vital  statistics  or  any  mention 
of  William  Shakespeare.  Very  numerous,  in- 
deed, are  the  items  concerning  John  Shake- 
speare in  the  local  archives,  but,  as  little  can  be 
learned  from  them  except  the  facts  and  dates 
of  the  holding  of  town  offices,  loaning  and  owing 
money,  and  so  on,  it  did  not  seem  worth  while 
to  reprint  them  in  full.  Moreover,  it  is  im- 
possible to  be  certain  that  they  all  refer  to  the 
same  man.  Mr.  Halliwell-Phillipps  has  pub- 
lished an  approximately  complete  list.     (1) 

1551  (?)•  John  Shakespeare  left  Snitterfield, 
his  birthplace. 

1556.  John  Shakespeare  bought  two  free- 
hold tenements  in  Stratford. 

1557  (?)•  John  Shakespeare  married  Mary 
Arden. 

1558.  John  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 

1562.  Margaret  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 

1563.  Margaret  Shakespeare  was  buried. 

1564.  William  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 
1566.  Gilbert  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 
1569.  Joan  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 


John  Shakespeare  13 

1 57 1.     Anna  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 
I573"4-     Richard  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 

1579.  Anna  Shakespeare  was  buried. 

1580.  Edmund  Shakespeare  was  baptized. 
1596.     The  draft  of  a  coat-of-arms  for  John 

Shakespeare  was  made.     (2) 

1599.     The  coat-of-arms  was  drafted.    (3) 
160 1.    John  Shakespeare  was  buried.     (No 

will  has  been  found,  and  there  is  no   known 

record  of  his  grave.) 


Chapter  Three. 

WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  IN  THE 
RECORDS. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  I  have  made  this 
arbitrary  distinction  between  ''records"  and 
''allusions."  I  call  "records"  all  those  facts 
which  have  been  found  in  parish  registers, 
official  archives,  and  such  business  correspond- 
ence as  relates  directly  to  the  affairs  of  Shake- 
speare. The  word  "allusions"  in  this  book 
covers  practically  everything  else  naming  Shake- 
speare, except  the  material  in  the  chapter  "Evi- 
dences from  the  Plays  and  Poems." 

Owing  to  the  commonness  of  the  name 
Shakespeare  in  Elizabethan  times,  "the  poet 
has  been  more  than  once  credited  with  achieve- 
ments which  rightly  belonged  to  one  or  other 
of  his  numerous  contemporaries  who  were 
identically  named."*  It  is  impossible,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  to  maintain  that  all  the  records 
in  this  chapter  refer  to  the  same  William 
Shakespeare;  and  it  is  equally  inadvisable  to 
guess  which  refer  to  him  and  which  do  not. 

1564,  April  26.  William  Shakespeare  was 
baptized  at  Stratford.    (1) 

1582,  Nov.  27.  An  entry  in  the  register  of 
the    Bishop    of    Worcester,    issuing    a    license 

♦Sidney  Lee,  "A  Life  of  William  Shakespeare,"  1909,  p.  2. 


In  the  Records  15 

authorizing  the  marriage  of  William  Shake- 
speare and  Anne  Whatley  of  Temple  Graf- 
ton.    (2) 

1582,  Nov.  28.  A  deed  was  filed  in  the  registry 
of  the  Bishop  of  Worcester  in  which  two 
husbandmen  of  Stratford  went  bond  that  no 
impediment  ''by  reason  of  precontract"  ex- 
isted in  the  way  of  the  marriage  of  William 
Shakespeare  and  Anne  Hathaway  of  Shottery. 

(3) 

1583,  May  26.    Susanna,  daughter  of  William 

Shakespeare,  was  baptized.     (4) 

1585,  Feb.  2.  Hamnet  and  Judith  Shake- 
speare were  baptized.     (5) 

1589.  William  Shakespeare's  name  was  men- 
tioned in  a  bill  of  complaint  brought  by  John 
Shakespeare  against  John  Lambert  of  Strat- 
ford respecting  an  estate  at  Wilmecote,  near 
Stratford.     (6) 

i594-5>  March.  William  Kempe,  WiUiam 
Shakespeare,  and  Richard  Burbage  were  paid 
in  all  twenty  pounds  as  members  of  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  company,  which  had  acted  be- 
fore the  Queen.     (7) 

Before  1595.  Anne  Shakespeare  borrowed 
forty  shillings  from  Thomas  Withington.  Un- 
paid in  160L     (8) 

1595*  William  Shakespeare  was  held  liable 
for  a  subsidy  assessed  in  St.  Helen's  Bishops- 
gate.     (9) 

1596.  Memorandum  by  AUeyn  to  the  ef- 
fect that  Shakespeare  was  lodging  near  the  bear 
garden  in  Southwark  (?).     (10) 


16  William  Shakespeare 

1596,  Aug.  11.  Hamnet  Shakespeare  was 
buried  in  Stratford.     (11) 

1596,  October.  William  Shakespeare  was  re- 
turned as  a  defaulter  for  a  tax  in  St.  Helen's. 
(12) 

1597.  Again  taxed  in  St.  Helen's.     (13) 

1597,  May  4.  William  Shakespeare  bought 
New  Place  in  Stratford  for  sixty  pounds.  A 
fine  was  levied  at  the  same  time.     (14) 

1597-8,  Feb.  4.  William  Shakespeare  was 
on  record  as  a  householder  in  Chapel  Street, 
Stratford,  and  as  the  owner  of  ten  quarters  of 
corn.     (15) 

1598,  October.  William  Shakespeare  was 
again  taxed  in  St.  Helen's.     (16) 

1598.  Acted  in  Ben  Jonson's  ''Every  Man 
in  his  Humor."     (17) 

1598.  Bought  stone  to  repair  his  house 
in  Stratford  (?).     (18) 

1597-8,  Jan.  24.  Abraham  Sturley  of  Strat- 
ford, in  a  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  Richard 
Quiney,  in  London,  wrote:  ''This  one  special 
rememberance  from  our  father's  motion.  It 
seemeth  by  him  that  our  countryman,  Mr. 
Shakespeare  is  willing  to  disburse  some  money 
upon  some  odd  yardland  or  other  at  Shottery 
or  near  about  us;  he  thinketh  it  a  very  fit 
pattern  to  move  him  in  the  matter  of  our  tithes. 
By  the  instructions  you  can  give  him  thereof, 
and  by  the  friends  he  can  make  therefor,  we 
think  it  a  fair  mark  for  him  to  shoot  at  and 
would  do  us  much  good."     (19) 

1598,    Oct.    25.     Richard    Quiney   wrote   to 


In  the  Records  17 

William  Shakespeare,  his  '^loving  good  friend 
and  countryman":  ''Loving  countryman,  I 
am  bold  of  you,  as  of  a  friend,  craving  your 
help  with  XXX  11  upon  Mr.  Bushell's  and  my 
security,  or  Mr.  Mytton's  with  me.  Mr.  Ross- 
well  is  not  come  to  London  as  yet,  and  I  have 
especial  cause.  You  shall  friend  me  much  in 
helping  me  out  of  all  the  debts  I  owe  in  London, 
I  thank  God,  and  much  quiet  my  mind,  which 
would  not  be  indebted.  I  am  now  towards 
the  Court,  in  hope  of  answer  for  the  dispatch 
of  my  business.  You  shall  neither  lose  credit 
nor  money  by  me,  the  Lord  willing;  and  now 
but  persuade  yourself  so,  as  I  hope,  and  you 
shall  not  need  to  fear,  but,  with  all  hearty 
thankfulness,  I  will  hold  my  time,  and  content 
your  friend,  and  if  we  bargain  farther,  you  shall 
be  the  pay-master  yourself.  My  time  bids  me 
hasten  to  an  end,  and  so  I  commit  this  your 
care  and  hope  of  your  help.  I  fear  I  shall  not 
be  back  this  night  from  the  Court.  Haste. 
The  Lord  be  with  you  and  with  us  all.  Amen! 
From  the  Bell  in  Carter  Lane,  the  25th  October, 

1598. 

''Yours  in  all  kindness, 

"Ryc.  Quiney." 


(This  has  been  deemed  worth  printing  in  full, 
as  it  is  the  only  known  extant  letter  addressed 
to  William  Shakespeare.)     (20) 

1598,  Nov.  4.  Abraham  Sturley  in  Strat- 
ford, writing  to  Richard  Quiney  in  London, 
said   he   hoped    that    "our    countryman,    Mr. 


18  William  Shakespeare 

Wm.  Shak.  would  procure  us  money,  which 
I  will  like  of,  as  I  shall  hear  when,  and  where, 
and  how."     (21) 

1598,  1599  (?).  Adrian  Quiney,  writing  from 
Stratford  to  his  son  Richard  Quiney,  at  the 
Bell  in  Carter  Lane,  said,  '^If  you  bargain  with 
Wm.  Sha  ...  or  receive  money  therefore,  bring 
your  money  home  that  you  may;  and  see  how 
knit  stockings  be  sold."     (22) 

1599  (?)•  William  Shakespeare's  name  ap- 
peared in  an  heraldic  manuscript  book  as  one 
who  had  received  arms  under  false  pretences. 
(23) 

1600,  March.  William  Shakespeare  recov- 
ered in  London  a  debt  of  seven  pounds  from 
John  Clayton.     (24) 

Before  1602.  Planted  a  fruit  orchard  in 
Stratford.     (25) 

1602,  May  1.  William]  Shakespeare  bought 
a  hundred  and  seven  acres,  more  or  less,  of 
arable  land  in  Old  Stratford  for  three  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds.     (26) 

1602,  Sept.  28.  William  Shakespeare  bought 
a  cottage  and  garden  in  Chapel  Lane.     (27) 

1603,  May.  William  Shakespeare  was  listed 
with  some  of  the  actors  of  Lord  Chamberlain's 
company  who  were  licensed  by  the  King.     (28) 

1603.  William  Shakespeare  acted  in  Ben 
Jonson's  ''Sejanus."     (29) 

1603-4,  March  15.  William  Shakespeare  and 
eight  other  actors  walked  in  a  procession  from 
the  Tower  to  Westminster.     (30) 

1604.  William     Shakespeare     sued     Phillip 


In  the  Records  19 

Rogers    for    malt  worth    nearly  two   pounds, 
and  for  a  loan.     (31) 

1604.  William  Shakespeare  was  listed  as 
holding  a  cottage  and  garden  at  Stratford.    (32) 

1605.  Augustine  Phillips,  an  actor,  died, 
leaving  to  his  '' fellow"  William  Shakespeare 
a  thirty-shilling  piece  of  gold.     (33) 

1605,  July  24.  William  Shakespeare  bought, 
for  four  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  a  moiety 
of  the  tithes  of  Stratford,  Old  Stratford,  Wel- 
combe,  and  Bishopton.     (34) 

1605,  Shakespeare's  name  as  a  trained  sol- 
dier was  recorded  in  the  certificate  of  the 
muster-roll  for  Rowington,  in  the  county  of 
Warwick.     (35) 

1606,  August.  William  Shakespeare  was 
listed  in  a  survey  of  Stratford  as  owner  of  a 
copyhold  estate.     (36) 

1607,  June  5.  Susanna  Shakespeare  married 
John  Hall  at  Stratford.     (37) 

1607,  Dec.  31.  Edmund  Shakespeare,  actor, 
was  buried  in  Southwark.     (38) 

1608,  Sept.  9.  Mary  Shakespeare  was  buried 
in  Stratford.     (39) 

1608,  Oct.  16.  William  Shakespeare  stood 
godfather  at  Stratford  to  the  son  of  William 
Walker.     (40) 

1608-9.  William  Shakespeare  was  at  law 
in  Stratford  with  John  Addenbroke  for  the  re- 
covery of  a  debt.     (41) 

1610.  Shakespeare's  estate  (bought  from 
the  Combes)  was  fined.     (42) 

161 1.  Shakespeare's  name  appears  in  some 


20  William  Shakespeare 

papers  involved  in  a  lawsuit.  From  them  we 
learn  a  little  about  Shakespeare's  financial 
affairs,  but  nothing  about  the  identity  of  the 
poet  and  the  actor,     (43) 

1612,  Shakespeare's  name  appeared  in  a 
bill  of  complaint  respecting  the  Stratford 
tithes.    (44) 

1612-3,  March  10.  WilUam  Shakespeare,  to- 
gether with  William  Johnson,  John  Jackson, 
and  John  Hemming,  bought  a  house  and  grounds 
near  the  Blackfriars  Theatre.     (45) 

1 61 2-3,  March  11.  William  Shakespeare,  to- 
gether with  William  Johnson,  John  Jackson, 
and  John  Hemming,  mortgaged  the  Black- 
friars property  to  Henry  Walker,  from  whom 
they  had  bought  it.     (46) 

1613,  March  31.  ''Mr.  Shakespeare"  received 
forty-four  shillings  from  the  steward  of  the  Earl 
of  Rutland  "about  my  Lord's  Impreso." 
(Richard  Burbage,  on  the  same  day,  received 
the  same  sum  for  "painting  and  making  it  in 
gold.")     (47) 

1 614,  July.  John  Combe  of  Stratford  died, 
bequeathing  to  William  Shakespeare  five 
pounds.     (48) 

1614,  Oct.  28.  William  Shakespeare  and 
Thomas  Greene  of  Stratford  obtained  a  deed 
indemnifying  them  against  any  injury  from  the 
enclosing  of  the  common  lands  in  Stratford. 
(49) 

1614,  Nov.  17.  Entry  in  Thomas  Greene's 
diary  (Greene  was  town-clerk  of  Stratford): 
"My  cousin  Shakespeare  coming  yesterday  to 


In  the  Records  21 

towne,  I  went  to  see  him  how  he  did.  He 
told  me  that  they  assured  him  they  meant  to 
inclose  no  further  than  to  Gospell  Bush,  and  so 
up  straight  (leaving  out  part  of  the  Dingles 
to  the  Field)  to  the  Gate  in  Clopton  hedge, 
and  take  in  Salisbury's  piece,  and  that  they 
mean  in  April  to  survey  the  land,  and  then  to 
give  satisfaction,  and  not  before;  and  he  and 
Mr.  Hall  say  they  think  there  will  be  nothing 
done  at  all."     (50) 

1614,  Dec.  23.  From  the  same:  "A  hall. 
Letters  written  one  to  Mr.  Mannering,  another 
to  Mr.  Shakespeare,  with  almost  all  the  com- 
pany's hands  to  either.  I  also  wrote  of  my- 
self to  my  cousin  Shakespeare  the  copies  of 
all  our  acts,  and  then  also  a  note  of  the  incon- 
veniences would  happen  by  the  enclosures." 
(50) 

1614-5,  Jan.  From  the  same:  ''Mr.  Rep- 
lyngham,  28  Octobris,  article  with  Mr.  Shake- 
speare, and  then  I  was  put  in  by  T.  Lucas." 
(50) 

1614-5,  Jan.  11.  From  the  same:  ''Mr. 
Mannering  and  his  agreement  for  me  with  my 
cousin  Shakespeare."     (50) 

1615,  Sept.  From  the  same:  "Mr.  Shake- 
speare telling  J.  Greene  I  was  not  able  to  bear 
the  enclosing  of  Welcombe."     (50) 

(The  notes  from  Greene's  diary  have  been 
deemed  worth  printing  in  full,  because  they  are 
the  most  intimate  and  personal  contemporary 
records  of  William  Shakespeare  known.) 

1 61 5,  April  26.     William    Shakespeare    was 


22  Williarn  Shakespeare 

one  of  six  petitioners  to  Lord  Chancellor  Eger- 
ton  praying  him  to  compel  Matthew  Bacon 
to  deliver  up  papers  concerning  their  title  to 
various  houses  and  lands  within  the  precinct 
of  Blackfriars.  (May  15.  Answer  of  Mat- 
thew Bacon.  May  22.  Order  of  the  court  di- 
recting the  surrender  of  the  papers  to  the  pe- 
titioners.)    (51) 

i6i6,  Feb.  10.  Judith  Shakespeare  married 
Th.  Quiney.     (52) 

i6i6,  March  25.  Date  of  Shakespeare's  will. 
(53) 

i6i6,  April  23.  WiUiam  Shakespeare  was 
buried.     (54) 


It  will  be  observed  that  not  one  of  the 
records  printed  in  this  chapter  evidences  any 
connection  between  William  Shakespeare  of 
Stratford  and  the  William  Shakespeare  of 
the  great  plays.  It  is  true  that  William  Shake- 
speare of  Stratford  acted  in  some  of  the  plays 
bearing  the  name  William  Shakespeare  or 
Shake-speare  on  the  title-page.  But  it  is  not 
true  that  this  similarity  and  at  times  identity 
of  names  has  left  any  trace  in  any  known  sur- 
viving contemporary  record  to  the  effect  that 
any  one  supposed  the  Stratford  Shakespeare  to 
be  other  than  an  actor  or  a  man  of  affairs. 
It  may  be  that  documents  will  some  time  show 
that  such  a  connection  existed.  TiU  they  do, 
we  cannot  make  it  for  them. 


Chapter  Four. 
SHAKESPEARE'S  WILL. 

It  seemed  interesting  to  print  Shakespeare's 
will,  for  two  reasons:  first,  it  is  the  only  ex- 
tant autographed  document  which  may  be 
assumed  to  have  been  composed  by,  or  phrased 
under  the  direction  of,  WilHam  Shakespeare; 
and,  second,  because  it  might  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected that  the  identity  of  the  actor  with  the 
dramatist  would  in  it  be  disclosed  or  at  least 
indicated.  A  careful  perusal  of  this  composi- 
tion, however,  will  afford  no  clew. 


"Vicesimo  quinto  die  Martii,  anno  regni 
domini  nostri  Jacobi,  nunc  regis  Anglie,  &c. 
decimo  quarto,  et  Scotie  xlix°  annoque  Domini, 
1616. 

"T.  Wmi.  Shakespeare. — In  the  name  of  God, 
amen!  I  William  Shakespeare,  of  Stratford- 
upon-Avon  in  the  county  of  Warr.  gent.,  in 
perfect  health  and  memory,  God  be  praised,  do 
make  and  ordain  this  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment in  manner  and  form  following,  that  is 
to  say,  First,  I  commend  my  soul  into  the  hands 
of  God  my  Creator,  hoping  and  assuredly  be- 
lieving, through  the  only  merits  of  Jesus 
Christ,  my  Saviour,  to  be  made  partaker  of 
life   everlasting,    and   my   body   to   the   earth 


24  William  Shakespeare 

whereof  it  is  made.  Item,  I  give  and  bequeath 
unto  my  daughter  Judith  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  of  lawful  English  money,  to  be 
paid  unto  her  in  manner  and  form  following, 
that  is  to  say,  one  hundred  pounds  in  discharge 
of  her  marriage  portion  within  one  year  after 
my  decease,  with  consideration  after  the  rate 
of  two  shillings  in  the  pound  for  so  long  time  as 
the  same  shall  be  unpaid  unto  her  after  my  de- 
cease, and  the  fifty  pounds  residue  thereof 
upon  her  surrendering  of,  or  giving  of  such 
sufficient  security  as  the  overseers  of  this  my 
will  shall  like  of  to  surrender  or  grant,  all  her 
estate  and  right  that  shall  descend  or  come 
unto  her  after  my  decease,  or  that  she  now 
hath,  of,  in  or  to,  one  copyhold  tenement  with 
the  appurtenances  lying  and  being  in  Strat- 
ford-upon-Avon aforesaid  in  the  said  county  of 
Warr.,  being  parcel  or  holding  of  the  manor  of 
Rowington,  unto  my  daughter  Susanna  Hall 
and  heirs  forever.  Item,  I  give  and  bequeath 
unto  my  said  daughter  Judith  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  more,  if  she  or  any  issue  of 
her  body  be  living  at  the  end  of  three  years  next 
ensuing  the  day  of  the  date  of  this  my  will, 
during  which  time  my  executors  to  pay  her  con- 
sideration from  my  decease  according  to  the 
rate  aforesaid;  and  if  she  die  within  the  said 
term  without  issue  of  her  body,  then  my  will 
is,  and  I  do  give  and  bequeath  one  hundred 
pounds  thereof  to  my  niece  Elizabeth  Hall, 
and  the  fifty  pounds  to  be  set  forth  by  my 
executors  during  the  life  of  my  sister  Joan  Hart, 


His  Will  25 

and  the  use  and  profit  thereof  coming  shall  be 
paid  to  my  said  sister  Joan,  and  after  her  de- 
cease the  said  fifty  pounds  shall  remain  amongst 
the  children  of  my  said  sister  to  be  divided 
amongst  them;  but  if  my  said  daughter 
Judith  be  living  at  the  end  of  the  said  three 
years,  or  any  issue  of  her  body,  then  my  will 
is  and  so  I  devise  and  bequeath  the  said  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  to  be  set  out  by  my  exe- 
cutors and  overseers  for  the  best  benefit  of  her 
and  her  issue,  and  the  stock  not  to  be  paid 
unto  her  so  long  as  she  shall  be  married  and 
covert  baron;  but  my  will  is  that  she  shall 
have  the  consideration  yearly  paid  unto  her 
during  her  life,  and,  after  her  decease,  the  said 
stock  and  consideration  to  be  paid  to  her 
children,  if  she  have  any,  and  if  not,  to  her 
executors  or  assigns,  she  living  the  said  term 
after  my  decease,  Provided  that  if  such  hus- 
band as  she  shall  at  the  end  of  the  said  three 
years  be  married  unto,  or  at  any  after,  do 
sufficiently  assure  unto  her  and  the  issue  of  her 
body  lands  answerable  to  the  portion  by  this 
my  will  given  unto  her,  and  to  be  adjudged  so 
by  my  executors  and  overseers,  then  my  will 
is  that  the  said  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
shall  be  paid  to  such  husband  as  shall  make 
such  assurance,  to  his  own  use.  Item,  I  give 
and  bequeath  unto  my  said  sister  Joan  twenty 
pounds  and  all  my  wearing  apparel,  to  be  paid 
and  delivered  within  one  year  after  my  de- 
cease; and  I  do  will  and  devise  unto  her  the 
house   with    the    appurtenances    in   Stratford, 


26  William  Shakespeare 

wherein  she  dwelleth,  for  her  natural  life,  under 
the  yearly  rent  of  twelve  pence.  Item,  I  give 
and  bequeath  unto  her  three  sons,  William  Hart, 
.  .  .  Hart,  and  Michael  Hart,  five  pounds  apiece, 
to  be  paid  within  one  year  after  my  decease. 
Item,  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  the  said  Eliza- 
beth Hall  all  my  plate  except  my  broad  silver 
and  gilt  bowl,  that  I  now  have  at  the  date  of 
this  my  will.  Item,  I  give  and  bequeath  unto 
the  poor  of  Stratford  aforesaid  ten  pounds;  to 
Mr.  Thomas  Combe  my  sword;  to  Thomas 
Russell  esquire  five  pounds,  and  to  Francis 
Collins  of  the  borough  of  Warr.  in  the  county 
of  Warr.,  gent.,  thirteen  pounds,  six  shillings, 
and  eight  pence,  to  be  paid  within  one  year 
after  my  decease.  Item,  I  give  and  bequeath 
to  Hamlet  Sadler  twenty-five  shillings  and 
eight  pence  to  buy  him  a  ring;  to  William 
Reynolds,  gent.,  twenty-six  shillings  eight  pence 
to  buy  him  a  ring;  to  my  god-son  William 
Walker  twenty  shillings  in  gold;  to  Anthony 
Nash  gent,  twenty-six  shillings  eight  pence, 
and  to  Mr.  John  Nash  twenty-six  shillings 
eight  pence;  and  to  my  fellows,  John  Hem- 
ynges,  Richard  Burbage,  and  Henry  Cundell, 
twenty-six  shillings  eight  pence  apiece  to  buy 
them  rings.  Item,  I  give,  will,  bequeath  and 
devise  unto  my  daughter  Susanna  Hall,  for 
better  enabling  of  her  to  perform  this  my  will, 
and  towards  the  performance  thereof,  all  that 
capital  messuage  or  tenement,  with  the  appur- 
tenances, in  Stratford  aforesaid,  called  the 
New  Place,  wherein  I  now  dwell,  and  two  mes- 


His  Will  27 

suages  or  tenements  with  the  appurtenances, 
situate  lying  and  being  in  Henley  Street  with- 
in the  borough  of  Stratford  aforesaid;  and  all 
my  barns,  stables,  orchards,  gardens,  lands, 
tenements  and  hereditaments  whatsoever,  situ- 
ate, lying  and  being,  or  to  be  had,  received, 
perceived,  or  taken,  within  the  towns,  hamlets, 
villages,  fields  and  grounds  of  Stratford-upon- 
Avon,  Old  Stratford,  Bushopton,  and  Wel- 
combe,  or  in  any  of  them  in  the  said  county 
of  Warr.  And  also  all  that  messuage  or  tene- 
ment with  the  appurtenances  wherein  one  John 
Robinson  dwelleth,  situate  lying  and  being 
in  the  Blackfriars  in  London  near  the  Ward- 
robe; and  all  other  my  lands,  tenements,  and 
hereditaments  whatsoever,  To  have  and  to  hold 
all  and  singular  the  said  premises  with  their 
appurtenances  unto  the  said  Susanna  Hall 
for  and  during  the  term  of  her  natural  life,  and 
after  her  decease,  to  the  first  son  of  her  body 
lawfully  issuing,  and  to  the  heirs  males  of  the 
body  of  the  said  first  son  lawfully  issuing,  and 
for  default  of  such  issue,  to  the  second  son  of 
her  body  lawfully  issuing,  and  to  the  heirs 
males  of  the  body  of  the  said  second  son  law- 
fully issuing,  and  for  default  of  such  heirs,  to 
the  third  son  of  the  body  of  the  said  Susanna 
lawfully  issuing,  and  of  the  heirs  males  of  the 
body  of  the  said  third  son  lawfully  issuing,  and 
for  default  of  such  issue,  the  same  so  to  be  and 
remain  to  the  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh 
sons  of  her  body  lawfully  issuing  one  after 
another,  and  to  the  heirs  males  of  the  bodies 


28  William  Shakespeare 

of  the  said  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh 
sons  lawfully  issuing  in  such  manner  as  it  is 
before  limited  to  be  and  remain  to  the  first, 
second  and  third  sons  of  her  body,  and  to  their 
heirs  males,  and  for  default  of  such  issue,  the 
said  premises  to  be  and  remain  to  my  said 
niece  Hall,  and  the  heirs  males  of  her  body  law- 
fully issuing,  and  for  default  of  such  issue,  to 
my  daughter  Judith,  and  the  heirs  males  of  her 
body  lawfully  issuing,  and  for  default  of  such 
issue,  to  the  right  heirs  of  me  the  said  William 
Shakespeare  forever.  Item,  I  give  unto  my 
wife  my  second  best  bed  with  the  furniture. 
Item,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  said  daughter 
Judith  my  broad  silver  gilt  bowl.  All  the  rest 
of  my  goods,  chattels,  leases,  plate,  jewels,  and 
household  stuff  whatsoever,  after  my  debts 
and  legacies  paid,  and  my  funeral  expenses 
discharged,  I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  to  my 
son-in-law,  John  Hall,  gent.,  and  my  daughter 
Susanna,  his  wife,  whom  I  ordain  and  make 
executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testament. 
And  I  do  entreat  and  appoint  the  said  Thomas 
Russell,  esquire,  and  Francis  Collins,  gent., 
to  be  overseers  hereof,  and  do  revoke  all  former 
wills,  and  publish  this  to  be  my  last  will  and 
testament.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto 
put  my  hand  the  day  and  year  first  above 
written. — By  me  William   Shakespeare. 

''Witness  to  the  publishing  hereof, — Fra: 
CoUyns;  Julius  Shawe;  John  Robinson;  Ham- 
net  Sadler;  Robert  Whattcott."     (1) 


Chapter  Five. 

POEMS  ASCRIBED  TO   SHAKESPEARE 
OF  STRATFORD. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  about  the  verses  at- 
tributed to  Shakespeare  of  Stratford.  As  poetry- 
it  is  not  in  my  biographical  province  to  criti- 
cise them.  Whether  or  not  they  are  authentic 
it  is  impossible  to  determine:  one  can  only 
guess.  The  modern  biographers  incline  to 
agree  to  disbelieve  that  Shakespeare  was  their 
author;  that  is,  of  all  but  the  gravestone  lines. 
It  may  be  that  it  is  necessary  to  imagine  that 
these  were  written  by  Shakespeare  in  order  to 
assume  that  his  body  is  contained  in  the  ground 
beneath  them.  Oral  tradition  (by  oral  tradi- 
tion I  mean  that  not  written  down,  so  far  as 
can  be  ascertained,  during  Shakespeare's  life- 
time) says  that  he  lies  there,  and  that  he  com- 
posed the  rhyme.  Oral  tradition  also  declares 
that  the  other  poetry  printed  in  this  chapter 
was  written  by  Shakespeare.  It  may  be  so:  we 
do  not  know. 


A  man  who  lived  near  Stratford  and  who  died 
in  1703,  at  the  age  of  ninety  or  so,  is  said  to 
have  remembered  hearing  several  old  people 
at  Stratford  tell  the  anecdote  of  Shakespeare's 


30  William  Shakespeare 

stealing  deer  from  Sir  Thomas  Lucy.  The 
first  stanza  only  of  the  ballad  composed  on  that 
occasion  could  the  man  recall: — 

A  parliament  member,  a  justice  of  peace, 
At  home  a  poor  scarecrow,  at  London  an  ass, 
If  lowsie  is  Lucy,  as  some  folk  miscall  it. 
Then  Lucy  is  lowsie,  whatever  befall  it. 
He  thinks  himself  great. 
Yet  an  ass  in  his  state, 
We  allow  by  his  ears  but  with  asses  to  mate; 
If  Lucy  is  lowsie,  as  some  folk  miscall  it. 
Sing  lowsie  Lucy,  whatever  befall  it.     (1) 

[Compare  ''Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,"  I.  1 : — 

Slen.  All  his  successors  (gone  before  him) 
hath  don't:  and  all  his  ancestors  (that  come  after 
him)  may :  they  may  give  the  dozen  white  luces  in 
their  coats. 

Shal.     It  is  an  old  coat. 

Evans.  The  dozen  white  luces  do  become  an 
old  coat  well :  it  agrees  well  passant :  it  is  a  familiar 
beast  to  man,  and  signifies  love. 

"Luce"  and  ''louse,"  we  are  told,  were  pro- 
nounced alike.] 


In  a  manuscript  pocket-book  which  Arch- 
deacon Plume  of  Rochester  used,  it  is  con- 
jectured, about  1656  to  note  down  various 
trifles,  appears  the  following  couplet  ascribed 
to  Shakespeare.  It  is  on  the  authority  of 
John  Hackett  that  Plume  quoted  this  mock 
epitaph  on  Ben  Jonson: — 


Poems  Ascribed  to  Shakespeare  31 

Here    lies    Benjamin  .  .  .  w[it]h  short   hair   up  [on] 

his  chin 
Who  w[hi]l[e]  he  Hved  w[as]    a  slow  th[ing],  and 

now  he  is  d[ea]d  is  nothing.     (2) 


In  a  manuscript  written,  it  is  conjectured, 
not  many  years  after  the  death  of  Shakespeare, 
occurs  this  passage: — 

''On  John  Combe  a  covetous  rich  man,  Mr. 
Wm.  Shakespeare  wrote  this  at  his  request 
while  he  was  yet  living  for  his  epitaph: 

Who  hes  in  this  tomb? 
Hough,  quoth  the  devil,  'tis  my  son,  John  a'Combe. 
Finis. 

''But,  being  dead  and  making  the  poor  his 
heirs  [Combe  left  Shakespeare  five  pounds],  he 
after  writes  this  for  his  epitaph : 

However  he  lived  judge  not. 
John  Combe  shall  never  be  forgot. 
While  poor  hath  memory,  for  he  did  gather 
To  make  the  poor  his  issue:  he  their  father 
As  record  of  his  tilth  and  seeds 
Did   crown   him   in   his   latter   needs.     Finis.    W. 
Shak."     (3) 

Aubrey,  writing  in  1680,  quoted  these  lines 
as  having  been  composed  by  Shakespeare  at  a 
tavern : — 

Ten  in  a  hundred  the  devil  allows, 

But  Combes  will  have  twelve  he  swears  and  vows. 

If  any  one  asks  who  lies  in  this  tome, 

Hoh!  quoth  the  devil,  'tis  my  John  o'Combe!     (4) 


32  William  Shakespeare 

Rowe,  writing  in  1709,  asserted  that  the 
epitaph  that  Shakespeare  composed  to  amuse 
Combe  was  this: 

Ten-in-the-Hundred  hes  here  ingrav'd, 
'Tis  a  hundred  to  ten  his  soul  is  not  sav'd; 
If  any  man  ask,  who  hes  in  this  tomb? 
Oh!    ho!    quoth  the  devil,  'tis  my  John-a-Combe. 
(5) 


Stratford  tradition  credits  Shakespeare  with 
the  authorship  of  the  local  jingle  running  as 
follows : — 

Dirty  Gretton,  dingy  Greet, 
Beggarly  Winchcomb,  Sudley  sweet; 
Hartshorn  and  Wittington  Bell, 
Andoversford  and  Merry  Frog  Mill.     (6) 


The  following  lines  are  inscribed  on  a  grave- 
stone in  the  church  at  Stratford.  Tradition 
agrees  in  assigning  both  tomb  and  poetry  to 
Shakespeare : — 

Good  friend,  for  Jesus'  sake  forbear 
To  dig  the  dust  enclosed  here; 
Blest  be  the  man  that  spares  these  stones, 
And  curst  be  he  that  moves  my  bones.     (7) 


Chapter  Six. 

CONTEMPORARY  ALLUSIONS,  REAL 
AND  SUPPOSED,   TO  WILLIAM 
SHAKESPEARE. 

1592.  In  an  address  ''To  those  gentlemen, 
his  quondam  acquaintance,  that  spend  their 
wits  in  making  plays,  R.  G.  [Robert  Greene] 
wisheth  a  better  exercise  and  wisdom  to  pre- 
vent his  extremeties,"  and  said,  to  these  play- 
wrights : — 

''Base  minded  men  all  three  of  you,  if  by 
my  misery  ye  be  not  warned;  for  unto  none  of 
you,  like  me,  sought  those  burrs  to  cleave, 
those  puppets  (I  mean)  that  speak  from  our 
mouths,  those  antics  garnished  in  our  colors. 
Is  it  not  strange  that  I,  to  whom  they  all  have 
been  beholding,  is  it  not  like  that  you,  to 
whom  they  all  have  been  beholding,  shall, 
(were  ye  in  the  case  that  I  am  now)  be  both  at 
once  of  them  forsaken?  Yes,  trust  them  not, 
for  there  is  an  upstart  crow,  beautified  with  our 
feathers,  that  with  his  tiger's  heart  wrapped  in 
a  player's  hide,  supposes  he  is  as  well  able  to 
bombast  out  a  blank  verse  as  the  best  of  you; 
and  being  an  absolute  Johannes  Factotum,  is 
in  his  own  conceit  the  only  Shake-scene  in  a 
country.  O,  that  I  might  entreat  your  rare 
wits  to  be  employed  in  more  profitable  courses, 


34  William  Shakespeare 

and  let  these  apes  imitate  your  past  excellence, 
and  never  more  acquaint  them  with  your  ad- 
mired inventions.  I  know  the  best  husband 
of  you  all  will  never  prove  a  usurer  and  the 
kindest  of  them  all  will  never  prove  a  kind 
nurse;  yet,  whilst  you  may,  seek  you  better 
masters,  for  it  is  a  pity  men  of  such  rare  wits 
should  be  subject  to  the  pleasures  of  such  rude 
grooms."     (1) 

1592.  Greene's  letter,  said  Chettle  later 
in  the  same  year,  referring  to  the  epistle  just 
quoted  from,  ''written  to  divers  playmakers, 
is  offensively  by  one  or  two  of  them  taken,  and 
because  on  the  dead  they  cannot  be  avenged 
they  wilfully  forge  in  their  conceits  a  living 
author,  and,  after  tossing  it  to  and  fro,  no 
remedy  but  that  it  must  light  on  me.  How 
I  have  all  the  time  of  my  conversing  in  print- 
ing hindered  the  bitter  inveighing  against 
scholars,  it  hath  been  very  well  known;  and 
how  in  that  I  deal  I  can  sufficiently  prove. 
With  neither  of  them  that  take  offence  was  I 
acquainted,  and  with  one  of  them  I  care  not 
if  I  never  be.  The  other,  whom  at  that  time 
I  did  not  so  much  spare  as  since  I  wish  I  had, 
for  that  as  I  have  moderated  the  heat  of  liv- 
ing writers,  and  might  have  used  my  own  dis- 
cretion (especially  in  such  a  case)  the  author 
being  dead,  that  I  did  not  I  am  as  sorry  as 
if  the  original  fault  had  been  my  fault,  because 
myself  have  seen  his  demeanor  no  less  civil 
than  he  excellent  in  the  quality  he  professes; 


Contemporary  Allusions  35 

besides,  divers  of  worship  have  reported  his  up- 
rightness of  dealing,  which  argues  his  honesty; 
and  his  facetious  grace  in  writing  that  approves 
his  art." 

In  the  first  passage  here  quoted  Greene  ad- 
dresses three  playwrights,  and  warns  them  not 
to  trust  the  players,  because  there  is  an  ''up- 
start crow"  who  decorates  himself  in  those 
playwrights'  feathers;  that  is  to  say,  who  gets 
hold  of  plaj^s  by  the  playwrights  here  addressed 
and  uses  parts  of  them  for  his  own  purposes. 
Greene  dubs  this  purloiner  of  other  men's 
writings  a  ''Johannes  Factotum,"  who  regards 
himself  as  the  only  "Shake-scene  in  a  country," 
and  who  wraps  "a  tiger's  heart  in  a  player's 
hide."  This  looks  like  a  clear  and  con- 
temptuous allusion  to  Shakespeare  in  his 
capacity  as  dramatist  working  under  the  name 
of  an  actor. 

In  the  second  passage  here  quoted,  Chettle, 
who  published  Greene's  letter,  denies  that  he 
wrote  it  himself,  and  regrets  that  he  did  not 
soften  the  slur  on  "the  other"  playwright 
who  has  been  taken  to  be  the  "Shake-scene" 
alluded  to  above.  Chettle  expresses  his  sorrow 
because  "divers  of  worship"  have  testified  to 
Shake-scene's  civility  of  demeanor  and  his  ex- 
cellence in  his  profession,  as  well  as  to  his 
uprightness  and  his  "facetious  grace"  in  writ- 
ing. Chettle  is  manifestly  alluding  to  a  play- 
wright, not  an  actor.  There  is  nothing  to  be 
learned  here  about  the  identity  between  the 


36  William  Shakespeare 

Stratford  actor  and  the  poet  Shakespeare,  or 
Shake-scene.     (2) 

1594.  In  a  laudatory  address  entitled  ''In 
Praise  of  Willobie  His  Avisa  Hexamaton  to 
the  Author/'  prefixed  to  "Willobie  his  Avisa," 
there  appeared  these  stanzas: — 

In  Lavine  land  though  Livie  boast. 

There  hath  been  a  constant  dame; 

Though  Rome  lament  that  she  have  lost 

The  garland  of  her  rarest  fame, 
Yet  now  we  see  that  here  is  found 
As  great  a  faith  in  English  ground. 

Though  Collatine  have  dearly  bought 
To  high  renown  a  lasting  life. 
And  found,  that  most  in  vain  have  sought, 
To  have  a  fair  and  constant  wife. 

Yet  Tarquin  plucked  his  glistering  grape. 
And  Shakespeare  paints  poor  Lucrece  rape. 

Clearly  a  reference  to  Shakespeare's  ''The 
ilape  of  Lucrece,"  which  was  published  in 
1594.  From  this  passage,  however,  we  learn 
nothing  about  the  author.  It  is  as  if  some  one 
spoke  of  Bryce's  "American  Commonwealth," 
so  far  as  any  information  about  the  identity 
of  the  writer  is  concerned.  On  the  face  of  it, 
therefore,  these  stanzas  teach  us  nothing  about 
William  Shakespeare  of  Stratford,  nor  do  they 
suggest,  remotely  or  otherwise,  a  connection 
between  him  and  the  poet  of  "Lucrece  rape." 
(3) 

1595-  On  a  margin  of  a  book  entitled  "Poli- 
manteia,"    opposite    a   passage    in    which    the 


Contemporary  Allusions  37 

author  is  boasting  of  the  poets  of  England 
as  compared  with  the  poets  of  other  coun- 
tries, there  occur  these  side-notes:  ''AH  praise 
worthy.  Lucrecia  Sweet  Shakespeare.  Elo- 
quent Graveston.  Wanton  Adonis.  Watsons 
hey  re." 

From  this  ''allusion/'  as  from  the  previous 
one,  we  learn  nothing  about  Shakespeare. 
The  title  of  one  or  possibly  of  two  poems  bear- 
ing the  name  Shakespeare  are  mentioned. 
That  is  all.  No  connection  with  the  Stratford 
man  is  here  hinted  at.     (4) 

1597  (?)•  ''The  Return  from  Parnassus" 
was  the  second  part  of  a  trilogy  of  three 
plays  written  and  acted  by  the  students  of 
St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  In  the  sec- 
ond of  these  plays  occurred  the  following 
passage : — 

Gullio.  Pardon,  fair  lady,  though  the  sick- 
thoughted  Gullio  makes  amain  unto  thee,  and  like 
a  bold-faced  suitor  'gins  to  woo  thee. 

Ingenioso.  (We  shall  have  nothing  but  pure 
Shakespeare  and  shreds  of  poetry  that  he  hath 
gathered  at  the  theatres.) 

Gullio.  Pardon  me,  my  mistress,  as  I  am  a 
gentleman,  the  moon  in  comparison  of  thy  bright 
hue  a  mere  slut,  Anthony's  Cleopatra  a  black- 
browed  milkmaid,  Helen  a  dowdy. 

Ingenioso.  (Mark,  Romeo  and  Juliet.  Oh 
monstrous  theft!  I  think  he  will  run  through  a 
whole  book  of  Samuel  Daniel's.) 

Gullio.  Thrice  fairer  than  myself  ( — thus  I 
began — ) 

431S64 


38  William  Shakespeare 

The  gods'  fair  riches,  sweet  above  compare, 
Staine  to  all  nymphs  more  lovely  than  a  man, 
More  white  and  red  than  doves  and  roses  are! 
Nature  that  made  thee  with  herself  had  strife 
Saith  that  the  world  hath  ending  with  thy  life. 

Ingenioso.     Sweet  Mr.  Shakespeare! 

Later  in  this  drama,  GuUio,  the  fool  of  the 
piece,  being  asked  in  what  vein  he  would  like 
some  verses  written  for  his  mistress,  replies: — 

Not  in  a  vain  vein  (pretty,  i'  faith!):  make  me 
them  in  two  or  three  diverse  veins,  in  Chaucer's, 
Gower's,  and  Spenser's,  and  Mr.  Shakespeare's. 
Marry,  I  think  I  shall  entertain  those  verses  which 
run  like  these: 

Even  as  the  sun  with  purple  colored  face. 

Had  ta  'en  his  last  leave  on  the  weeping  morn,  etc. 

O  sweet  Mr.  Shakespeare!    I'll  have  his  picture  in 
my  study  at  the  Court. 

In  the  same  play,  later  on,  Gullio  says: — 

Let  this  duncified  world  esteem  of  Spenser  and 
Chaucer;  I'll  worship  sweet  Mr.  Shakespeare,  and 
to  honor  him  lay  his  Veiius  and  Adonis  under  my 
pillow.  .  .  . 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about  the 
identity  of  the  poet  with  the  actor  from  Strat- 
ford.    (5) 

1597  (?)•  The  Northumberland  Manuscript 
is  a  folio  volume  containing  '^Of  Tribute," 
''Of  Magnanimity,"  ''An  advertisement  touch- 
ing private  censure,"  "An  advertisement  touch- 
ing the  controversies  of  the  Church  of  England," 


Contemporary  Allusions  39 

''A  letter  to  a  French  gentleman:  touching 
the  proceedings  in  England;"  .  .  .  speeches 
spoken  in  a  '' Device"  before  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  1595,  and  a  speech  ''for  the  Earl  of  Sussex 
at  the  tilt,"  1596, — all  these  by  Francis  Bacon; 
a  letter  to  Queen  Elizabeth  by  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney; and  an  imperfect  copy  of  ''Leicester's 
Commonwealth."  There  is  evidence  that  some 
things  in  the  book  have  been  removed,  and  in 
the  table  of  contents  it  appears  that  among 
them  were  some  orations  spoken  at  Gray's 
Inn,  essays  by  Bacon,  as  well  as  two  plays  en- 
titled "Richard  II."  and  "Richard  III." 

This  book  is  interesting  because  it  is  the  only 
known  hint  that  the  Shakespeare  plays,  like 
the  Shakespeare  sonnets,  were  circulated  in 
manuscript.  The  date  of  this  folio  has  been 
fixed  at  about  1597,  for  Bacon's  essays,  which 
had  been  "travelling  abroad,"  presumably 
in  copies  from  the  author's  manuscript,  were 
at  last  pubHshed  in  1597,  and  it  is  improb- 
able that,  being  now  accessible  in  print,  any 
one  would  laboriously  copy  them  out.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  Richard  plays.  All  the 
other  pieces  in  the  manuscript  are  of  earlier 
date. 

On  a  fly-leaf,  which  is  shown  here  photo- 
graphically reproduced,  some  one  scribbled 
Shakespeare's  name  repeatedly,  and  misquoted 
a  line  from  "Lucrece."  Strictly  speaking,  this 
document  is  neither  a  "record"  nor  an  "allu- 
sion."    As  it  is,  however,  the  only  known  con- 


40  William  Shakespeare 

temporary  book  among  the  contents  of  which 
were  numbered  "Richard  II."  and  ''Richard 
III./'  and  as  the  fly-leaf  attests  an  interest  in 
Shakespeare,  if  only  orthographical,  I  thought  it 
worth  reproducing.     (6) 


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A    MODERN    SCRIPT    FACSIMILE    OF    OPPOSITE  PAGE. 


Contemporary  Allusions  41 

• 

1598.  In  a  book  called  ''Palladis  Tamia" 
was  printed  an  essay  entitled  ''A  Comparative 
Discourse  of  our  English  Poets  with  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Itahan  poets,"  by  Francis  Meres, 
a  Master  of  Arts  of  Oxford  as  well  as  of 
Cambridge.  The  following  passage  mentions 
Shakespeare : — 

''As  the  Greek  tongue  is  made  famous  and 
eloquent  by  Homer,  Hesiod,  Euripides,  Aeschy- 
lus, Sophocles,  Pindarus,  Phocylides,  and  Aris- 
tophanes; and  the  Latin  tongue  by  Virgil, 
Ovid,  Horace,  Silius  Italicus,  Lucanus,  Lu- 
cretius, Ausonius  and  Claudianus;  so  the 
English  tongue  is  mightily  enriched  and  gor- 
geously invested,  in  rare  ornaments  and  re- 
splendent habiliments,  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
Spenser,  Daniel,  Drayton,  Warner,  Shake- 
speare, Marlow,  and  Chapman.  .  .  . 

'';As  the  soul  of  Euphorbus  was  thought  to 
live  in  Pythagoras;  so  the  sweet  witty  soul  of 
Ovid  lives  in  mellifluous  and  honey-tongued 
Shakespeare.  Witness  his  Venus  and  Adonis, 
his  Lucrece;  his  sugared  sonnets  among  his 
private  friends,  &c. 

"As  Plautus  and  Seneca  are  accounted  the 
best  for  comedy  and  tragedy  among  the  Latins, 
so  Shakespeare  among  the  English  is  the  most 
excellent  in  both  kinds  for  the  stage.  For 
comedy,  witness  his  Gentlemen  of  Verona:  his 
Errors,  his  Love's  Labor's  Lost,  his  Love's 
Labor's  Won,  his  Midsummer  Night's  Dream, 
and  his  Merchant  of  Venice. 

''For  tragedy:   his  Richard  II.,  Richard  III., 


42  William  Shakespeare 

Henry  IV.,  King  John,  Titus  Andronicus,  and 
his  Romeo  and  Juliet. 

''As  Epius  Stolo  said  that  the  Muses  would 
speak  with  Plautus's  tongue,  if  they  would 
speak  Latin:  so  I  say  that  the  Muses  would 
speak  with  Shakespeare's  fine  filed  phrase,  if 
they  would  speak  English."  .  .  . 

Shakespeare's  name  is  mentioned  five  more 
times  by  Meres,  but  always  in  a  group,  and  no- 
where again  singly.  Thus,  together  with  many 
other  contemporaries,  he  is  called  a  lyric  poet, 
good  at  tragedies,  and  ''most  passionate  among 
us  to  bewail  and  bemoan  the  perplexities  of 
love. ' ' 

These  allusions  are  like  the  two  just  preceding, 
in  that  they  tell  us  nothing  about  Shakespeare, 
except  that  the  name  was  connected  with  cer- 
tain poems  and  plays.  This  is  not  news.  Of 
his  identity  with  the  Stratford  man,  the  actor 
Shakespeare,  we  can  learn  nothing  from  Meres. 
(7) 

1598.  In  "Poems  in  Divers  Humors,"  bound 
with  an  "Encomium  of  Lady  Pecunia,"  by 
Richard  Barnfield,  under  the  title  "A  Remem- 
berance  of  some  English  Poets,"  appeared  these 
lines : 

And  Shakespeare  thou,  whose  honey-flowing  vein, 
(Pleasing  the  world)  thy  praises  doth  obtain; 
Whose  Venus  and  whose  Lucrece,  (sweet  and  chaste) 
Thy  name  in  fame's  immortal  book  have  placed. 
Live  ever  you,  at  least  in  fame  live  ever; 
Well  may  the  body  die,  but  fame  dies  never. 


Contemporary  Allusions  43 

The  only  possible  information  concerning 
Shakespeare  here  obtainable  is  that  he — who- 
ever he  was — was  still  alive.  There  is  nothing 
to  be  learned  here  about  the  identity  of  the 
actor  with  the  dramatist  or  of  the  Stratford 
man  with  the  dramatist.     (8) 

1599.  In  '' Epigrams  in  the  Oldest  Cut  and 
Newest  Fashion,"  John  Weever  wrote  some 
verses  inscribed  ''Ad  Guilelum  Shakespeare." 
They  are: — 

Honey-tongued    Shakespeare,    when    I    saw    thine 

issue, 
I  swore  Apollo  got  them  and  none  other, 
Their  rosy-tainted  features  clothed  in  tissue. 
Some  heaven-born  goddess  said  to  be  their  mother; 
Rose-cheeked  Adonis  with  his  amber  tresses. 
Fair  fire-hot  Venus  charming  him  to  love  her, 
Chaste  Lucretia,  virgin-like  her  dresses. 
Proud  lust-stung  Tarquin  seeking  still  to  prove  her; 
Romea-Richard ;   more  whose  names  I  know  not, 
Their  sugared  tongues  and  power  attractive  beauty 
Say  they  are  saints,  although  that  saints  they  show 

not. 
For  thousands  vows  to  them  subjective  duty; 
They  burn  in  love;   thy  children,  Shakespeare  het 

them; 
Go,  woo  thy  muse;  more  nymphish  brood  beget  them. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the 
poet-dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Stratford. 

(9) 

1600.  In  a  book  entitled  ''Bel-vedere,  or  the 
Garden  of  the  Muses,"  appeared  this  passage: — 


44  William  Shakespeare 

"Now  that  every  one  may  be  fully  satisfied 
concerning  this  Garden,  that  no  one  man  doth 
assume  to  himself  the  praise  thereof,  or  can 
arrogate  to  his  own  deserving  those  things 
which  have  been  derived  from  so  many  rare 
and  ingenious  spirits,  I  have  set  down  both  how, 
whence  and  where  these  flowers  had  their  first 
springing  till  thus  they  were  drawn  together 
into  the  Muses  Garden,  that  every  ground  may 
challenge  his  own,  each  plant  his  particular, 
and  no  one  be  injured  in  the  justice  of  his 
merit.  .  .  . 

' '  Edmund  Spenser ;  Henry  Constable  esquire  ; 
Samuel  Daniel;  Thomas  Lodge,  Doctor  of 
Physic;  Thomas  Watson;  Michael  Drayton; 
John  Davies;  Thomas  Hudson;  Henry  Locke 
esquire;  John  Marston;  Christopher  Marlowe; 
Benjamin  Jonson;  William  Shakespeare; 
Thomas  Churchyard  esquire;  Thomas  Nash; 
Thomas  Kidd;  George  Peele;  Robert  Greene; 
Joshua  Sylvester;  Nicholas  Breton;  Gervase 
Markham;  Thomas  Storer;  Robert  Wilmot; 
Christopher  Middleton;  Richard  Barnfield; 
these  being  modern  and  extant  poets  that  have 
lived  together;  from  many  of  their  extant  works, 
and  some  kept  in  private." 

The  only  possible  information  concerning 
Shakespeare  here  obtainable  is  that  he  was  still 
alive.  There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here 
about  the  identity  of  the  poet-dramatist  with 
the  actor  from  Stratford.     (10) 

1601.     John  Manningham,  a  barrister-at-law 


Contemporary  Allusions  45 

who  kept  a  diary,  wrote  in  it,  under  the  date  of 
February  2d:  ''At  our  feast  we  had  a  play 
called  Twelve  Night,  or  What  You  Will,  much 
like  the  comedy  of  Errors,  or  Menechmi  in 
Plautus,  but  most  like  and  near  to  that  in 
Italian  called  Inganni.  A  good  practice  in  it 
to  make  the  steward  believe  his  lady  widow  was 
in  love  with  him,  by  counterfeiting  a  letter  as 
from  his  lady,  in  general  terms,  telling  him 
what  she  liked  him  best  in,  and  prescribing  his 
gesture  in  smiling,  his  apparel,  etc.,  and  then, 
when  he  came  to  practise,  making  him  believe 
they  took  him  to  be  mad." 

This  is  one  of  many  allusions  to  the  plays  of 
Shakespeare.  It  is  too  obvious  to  say  that 
the   actor   is   not   mentioned   as    the   author. 

(11) 

1 60 1,  March  13.  (From  the  same):  ''Upon  a 
time  when  Burbage  played  Richard  III.  there 
was  a  citizen  gone  so  far  in  liking  with  him, 
that  before  she  went  from  the  play  she  ap- 
pointed him  to  come  that  night  unto  her  by 
the  name  of  Richard  the  Third.  Shakespeare 
overhearing  their  conclusion  went  before,  was 
entertained,  and  at  his  game  ere  Burbage  came. 
The  message  then  being  brought  that  Richard 
the  Third  was  at  the  door,  Shakespeare  caused 
return  to  be  made  that  William  the  Con- 
queror was  before  Richard  the  Third.  Shake- 
speare's name  William. 


)j 


Clearly,  an  allusion  to  Shakespeare  the  actor, 
who  was  a  fellow  of  Burbage's.     It  is  impossible 


46  William  Shakespeare 

to  say  that  Manningham  considered  or  did  not 
consider  Shakespeare  the  author  of  the  play 
which  he  had  witnessed  within  six  weeks. 
Without  other  information  from  Manningham 
this  allusion  evidently  does  not  identify  the 
Stratford  man  with  the  dramatist.     (12) 

1602  (?).  In  the  third  play  of  the  trilogy 
played  by  the  students  of  St.  John's,  ^^The 
Return  from  Parnassus  or  the  Scourge  of 
Simony/'  Ingenioso  is  reading  from  ''Belve- 
dere, or  The  Garden  of  the  Muses,"  the  names 
of  various  poets  for  Judicio  to  criticise.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  list  he  comes  to  WiUiam  Shake- 
speare.    Judicio  then  says. 

Who  loves  not  Adonis  love  or  Lucrece  rape? 
His  sweeter  verse  contains  heart  throbbing  line, 
Could  but  a  graver  subject  him  content, 
Without  love's  foolish  lazy  languishment. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about  the 
identity  of  the  poet  with  William  Shakespeare 
of  Stratford.     (13) 

1602.  In  ''The  Return  from  Parnassus,  or 
the  Scourge  of  Simony,"  Will  Kempe  and  Bur- 
bage,  the  actors,  are  brought  on  the  stage. 
This  dialogue  ensues: — 

Burhage.  Now  Will  Kemp,  if  we  can  entertain 
these  scholars  at  a  low  rate,  it  will  be  well,  they 
have  oftentimes  a  good  conceit  in  a  part. 

Kempe.  It's  true  indeed,  honest  Dick,  but  the 
slaves  are  somewhat  proud,  and  besides,  it  is  a 
good  sport  in  part,  to  see  them  never  speak  in  their 
walk  but  at  the  end  of  the  stage,  just  as  though 


Contemporary  Allusions  47 

in  walking  with  a  fellow  we  should  never  speak 
but  at  a  stile,  a  gate,  or  a  ditch,  where  a  man  can 
go  no  further.  I  was  once  at  a  comedy  in  Cam- 
bridge, and  there  I  saw  a  parasite  make  faces  and 
mouths  of  all  sorts  in  this  fashion. 

Burbage.  A  little  teaching  will  mend  these  faults, 
and  it  may  be  besides  they  will  be  able  to  pen  a 
part. 

Kempe.  Few  of  the  university  pen  plays  well; 
they  smell  too  much  of  that  writer  Ovid  and  that 
writer  Metamorphosis,  and  talk  too  much  of  Pro- 
serpina and  Jupiter.  Why,  here's  our  fellow  Shake- 
speare puts  them  all  down,  aye,  and  Ben  Jonson 
too.  0  that  Ben  Jonson  is  a  pestilent  fellow,  he 
brought  up  Horace  giving  the  Poets  a  pill,  but 
our  fellow  Shakespeare  hath  given  him  a  purge 
that  made  him  bewray  his  credit. 

Burbage.  It's  a  shrewd  fellow  indeed:  I  wonder 
these  scholars  stay  so  long.  .  .  . 

In  this  satirical  play  the  points  are  repeat- 
edly made  that  actors  belong  to  a  low  profes- 
sion, and  that  in  contrast  to  them  the  university 
men  have  a  difficult  time  making  their  way  in 
the  world.  In  this  passage,  then,  Kempe  and 
Burbage,  whose  parts  were  of  course  taken  by 
students,  amuse  the  audience  by  boasting  that 
a  fellow,  Shakespeare,  was  the  author  of  works 
which  could  ''put  down"  all  the  university 
pens,  even  Ben  Jonson,  who,  though  not  a 
university  man  (he  was  later  given  honorary 
degrees  from  both  Cambridge  and  Oxford), 
ranked  with  the  university  men  on  account  of 
his  learning.     As  the  piece  is  satirical,  it  is  diffi- 


48  William  Shakespeare 

cult  to  take  the   lines  as   referring  to  Shake- 
speare as  other  than  an  actor.     (14) 

1603.  In  a  ballad  called  '^A  Mournful  Ditty 
entitled  Elizabeth's  Loss,  together  with  a  Wel- 
come for  King  James,"  occurred  these  verses: 

You  poets  all,  brave  Shakespeare,  Jonson,  Greene, 
Bestow  your  time  to  write  for  England's  Queene. 
Lament,  lament,  lament,  you  English  peers; 
Lament  your  loss,  possessed  so  many  years. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the 
poet-dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Strat- 
ford.    (15) 

1604.  In  a  book  of  ''Epigrams"  by  I.  C. 
occur  these  lines: — 

Whoe'er  will  go  unto  the  press  may  see 

The  hated  fathers  of  vile  balladry; 

One  sings  in  his  base  note  the  river  Thames 

Shall   sound   the  famous  memory   of  noble   King 

James; 
Another  says  that  he  will  to  his  death. 
Sing  the  renowned  worthiness  of  sweet  Elizabeth; 
So  runs  their  verse  in  such  disordered  strain. 
And  with  them  dare  great  majesty  profane; 
Some  dare  do  this;   some  other  humbly  craves 
For  help  of  spirits  in  their  sleeping  graves. 
As  he  that  called  to  Shakespeare,  Jonson,  Greene, 
To  write  of  their  dead  noble  Queen. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the  poet- 
dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Stratford.     (16) 


Contemporary  Allusions  49 

1604.  In  the  dedication  to  a  book  called 
"Daiphantus,  or  the  Passions  of  Love,"  the 
author  says  that  an  epistle  to  the  reader  * 'should 
be  like  the  never-too-well-read  Arcadia,  where 
the  prose  and  verse  (matter  and  words)  are 
like  his  mistress's  eyes,  one  still  excelling  another 
and  without  corivall;  or  to  come  home  to  the 
vulgars'  element,  like  friendly  Shakespeare's 
tragedies,  where  the  commedian  rides,  when 
the  tragedian  stands  on  tiptoe;  faith,  it  should 
please  all,  like  Prince  Hamlet.  But,  in  sad- 
ness, then  it  were  to  be  feared  he  would  run 
mad.  In  sooth,  I  will  not  be  moonsick  to  please; 
nor  out  of  my  wits,  though  I  displeased  all." 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the 
poet-dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Strat- 
ford.    (17) 

1605(03).  In  the  epistle  dedicatory  of 
Camden's  ''Remains  of  a  Greater  Work  con- 
cerning Britain,"  published  this  year  anony- 
mously, occur  these  words: — 

"These  may  sufl&ce  for  some  poetical  descrip- 
tions of  our  ancient  poets;  if  I  would  come  to 
our  time,  what  a  world  could  I  present  to  you 
out  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Ed.  Spenser,  John 
Owen,  Samuel  Daniel,  Hugh  Holland,  Ben 
Jonson,  Th.  Campion,  Mich.  Drayton,  George 
Chapman,  John  Marston,  William  Shakespeare, 
and  other  pregnant  wits  of  these  our  times, 
whom  succeeding  ages  may  justly  admire." 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 


50  William  Shakespeare 

Shakespeare,  nor  about  the  identity  of  the  poet- 
dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Stratford.    (18) 

1607.  In  a  book  called  ''Mirrha,  the  Mother 
of  Adonis,  or  Lust's  Prodigies,"  WilHam  Bark- 
sted  wrote: — 

But  stay,  my  Muse,  in  thine  own  confines  keep, 
And  wage  not  war  with  so  dear  loved  a  neighbor; 
But  having  sung  thy  day-song,  rest  and  sleep; 
Preserve  thy  small  fame  and  his  greater  favor. 
His  song  was  worthy  merit  (Shakespeare  he,) 
Sung  the  fair  blossom,  thou,  the  withered  tree; 
Laurel  is  due  to  him;  his  art  and  wit 
Hath  purchased  it;   Cyprus  thy  brow  will  fit. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare.  Concerning  the  identity  of  the 
poet-dramatist  and  the  actor  we  remain  in 
our  former  ignorance.     (19) 

1610.  In  a  book  called  '^Hypercritica;  or  a 
Rule  of  Judgment  for  writing  or  reading  our 
histories,"  Edmund  Bolton  wrote  the  following: 

''The  Choice  of  English.  As  for  example, 
language  and  style  (the  apparel  of  matter) 
he  who  would  pen  our  affairs  in  English,  and 
compose  unto  us  an  entire  body  of  them,  ought 
to  have  a  singular  care  thereof.  For  albeit 
our  tongue  hath  not  received  dialects,  or  ac- 
centual notes  as  the  Greek,  nor  any  certain 
or  established  rule  of  grammar  or  true  writing, 
is  notwithstanding  very  copious,  and  few  there 
be  who  have  the  most  proper  graces  thereof, 
in  which  the  rule  cannot  be  variable:  For  as 
much   as   the   people's   judgments   are   uncer- 


Contemporary  Allusions  51 

tain,  the  books  also  out  of  which  we  gather 
the  most  warrantable  English  are  not  many  to 
my  rememberance,  of  which,  in  regard  they 
require  a  particular  and  curious  tract,  I  forbear 
to  speak  at  this  present.  But  among  the  chief, 
or  rather  the  chief,  are  in  my  opinion  these. 

''Sir  Thomas  Moore's  works. 

"  George  Chapman's  first  seven  books  of  Iliad. 

''Samuel  Drayton. 

"Michael  Drayton  his  Historical  Epistles  of 
England. 

"Marlowe  his  excellent  fragment  of  Hero  and 
Leander. 

"Shakespeare,  Mr.  Francis  Beaumont,  and 
innumerable  other  writers  for  the  stage;  and 
press  tenderly  to  be  used  in  this  argument. 

"Southwell,  Parson,  and  some  few  other  of 
that  sort." 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
the  identity  of  the  Stratford  man  with  the  poet- 
dramatist.     (20) 

i6ii.  In  some  notes  made  by  William 
Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  under  the  head 
"Table  of  my  English  books,  anno  1611," 
we  find  the  following,  here  reprinted  letter  for 
letter : — 

Venus  and  Aden,  by  Schaksp. 
The  Rap  of  Lucrece,  idem. 


The  Tragedie  of  Romeo  and  Julieta 

4d.  Ing 


A  Midsumers  Night  Dreame. 


52  William  Shakespeare 

There  is  nothing  here  to  be  learned  about 
the  identity  of  the  Stratford  man  with  the  poet 
and  playwright.     (21) 

1611  (?).  In  ''The  Scourge  of  Folly"  John 
Davies  of  Hereford  wrote  these  verses,  ''To 
our  English  Terence,  Mr.  Will.  Shake-speare "  : 

Some  say,  good  Will,  (which  I,  in  sport,  do  sing) 
Hadst  thou  not  played  some  kingly  parts  in  sport, 
Thou  hadst  been  a  companion  for  a  king; 
And  been  a  king  among  the  meaner  sort. 
Some  others  rail;  but,  rail  as  they  think  fit, 
Thou  hast  no  railing,  but  a  reigning  wit : 
And  honesty  thou  sow'st,  which  they  do  reap. 
So,  to  increase  their  stock  which  they  do  keep. 

It  is  impossible,  without  knowing  more  than 
we  do  about  the  circumstances  under  which 
this  epigram  was  written,  to  decide  what 
it  means.  In  terming  Shakespeare  a  Terence, 
the  writer  evidently  addressed  him  as  a  play- 
wright. In  remarking  that  Shakespeare  had 
played  some  kingly  parts  in  sport,  we  can 
hardly  understand  that  Shakespeare  of  Strat- 
ford is  mentioned,  as  it  was  not  his  sport, 
but  his  business  to  act.  Doubtless,  as  the 
phrase  goes,  this  line  is  figurative  in  meaning. 
From  this  poem  we  can  learn  nothing  about 
the  identity  of  the  actor  with  the  poet-drama- 
tist.    (22) 

161 2.  In  the  conclusion  to  Webster's 
"White  Devil"  occur  these  words: — 

"Detraction  is  the  sworn  friend  to  ignorance: 
for  mine  own  part,  I  have  ever  truly  cherished 


Contemporary  Allusions  53 

my  good  opinion  of  other  men's  worthy  labors, 
especially  of  that  full  and  heightened  style  of 
Master  Chapman,  the  labored  and  understand- 
ing works  of  Master  Jonson,  the  no  less  worthy 
composures  of  the  both  excellent  Master  Beau- 
mont and  Master  Fletcher;  and  lastly  (with- 
out wrong  last  to  be  named)  the  right  happy 
and  copious  industry  of  M.  Shakespeare,  M. 
Decker,  and  M.  Hey  wood,  wishing  what  I 
write  may  be  read  by  their  light;  protesting 
that,  in  the  strength  of  mine  own  judgment, 
I  know  them  so  worthy,  that,  though  I  rest 
silent  in  my  own  work,  yet  to  most  of  theirs 
I  dare,  (without  flattery)  fix  that  of  Martial, 
— non  norunt,  Haec  monumenta  mori." 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  except  that  his  industry  was  con- 
sidered by  Webster  as  happy  and  copious. 
Nor  is  there  any  hint  of  the  identity  of  the  poet- 
dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Stratford.     (23) 

1 614.  In  a  book  entitled  ''The  Excellency 
of  the  English  Tongue,"  printed  in  Camden's 
''Remains,"   R.   C.   wrote: — 

"The  long  words  that  we  borrow,  being  inter- 
mingled with  the  short  of  our  own  store,  make 
up  a  perfect  harmony,  by  culling  from  out 
which  mixture  (with  judgment)  you  may 
frame  a  speech  according  to  the  matter  you 
must  work  on,  majestical,  pleasant,  delicate  or 
manly,  more  or  less,  in  what  sort  you  please. 
Add  hereunto  that,  whatsoever  grace  any 
other  language  carrieth  in  verse  or  prose,  in 


54  William  Shakespeare 

tropes  or  metaphors,  in  echoes  and  agnomi- 
nations, they  may  all  be  lively  and  exactly 
represented  in  ours.  Will  you  have  Plato's 
vein?  read  Sir  Thomas  Smith.  The  Ionic? 
Sir  Thomas  More.  Cicero?  Ascham.  Varro? 
Chaucer.  Demosthenes?  Sir  John  Cheek 
(who,  in  his  treatise  to  the  rebels,  hath 
comprised  all  the  figures  of  rhetoric).  Will 
you  read  Virgil?  take  the  Earl  of  Surrey. 
Catullus?  Shakespheare  and  Barlowes  frag- 
ment [sic].  Ovid?  Daniel.  Lucan?  Spenser. 
Martial?  Sir  John  Davies  and  others.  Will 
you  have  all  in  all  for  prose  and  verse?  take 
the  miracle  of  our  age,  Sir  Philip  Sidney." 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  from  this 
allusion  about  Shakespeare,  nor  about  the 
identity  of  the  poet-dramatist  and  the  actor 
from  Stratford.     (24) 

1614.  The  passage  in  the  epistle  dedicatory 
to  Camden's  ''Remains"  that  was  published 
in  1605  was  reprinted  this  year.  (See  above 
under  1605.)     (25) 

1 6 14.  In  some  epigrams  by  Thomas  Free- 
man occur  the  following  lines  "To  master  W. 
Shakespeare": — 

Shakespeare,  that  nimble  mercury,  thy  brain, 

Lulls  many  hundred  Argus-eyes  asleep, 

So  fit  for  all  thou  fashionest  thy  vein; 

At   th'   horse-foot  fountain   thou  hast  drunk  full 

deep ; 
Virtue's  or  vice's  theme  to  thee  all  one  is; 
Who  loves  chaste  life,  there's  Lucrece  for  a  teacher; 


Contemporary  Allusions  55 

Who  list  read  lust,  there's  Venus  and  Adonis, 
True  model  of  a  most  lascivious  lecher. 
Besides  in  plays  thy  wit  winds  like  Meander. 
When  needy  new-composers  borrow  more 
Thence  Terence  doth  from  Plautus  or  Menander. 
But  to  praise  thee  aright  I  want  thy  store; 
Then  let  thine  own  works  thine  own  worth  upraise, 
And  help  t'  adorn  thee  with  deserved  bays. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the  poet- 
dramatist  with  the  actor  from  Stratford.     (26) 

1614.  In  Stow's  '^The  Annals,  or  General 
Chronicle  of  England,"  continued  by  Edmund 
Howe,  there  occurs  this  passage: — 

''Our  modern  and  present  excellent  poets, 
which  worthily  flourish  in  their  own  works, 
and  all  of  them  in  my  own  knowledge  lived 
together  in  this  Queen's  reign,  according  to 
their  priorities,  as  near  as  I  could,  I  have 
orderly  set  down  (viz.)  George  Gascoigne, 
esquire;  Thomas  Churchyard,  esquire.  Sir 
Edward  Dyer,  knight,  Edmund  Spenser 
esquire.  Sir  Philip  Sidney  knight.  Sir  John  Har- 
rington knight.  Sir  Thomas  Challoner  knight. 
Sir  Francis  Bacon  knight;  and  Sir  John  Davies 
knight.  Master  John  Lily  gentleman,  Master 
George  Chapman  gentleman,  M.  W.  Warner 
gentleman,  M.  Willi.  Shakespeare  gentleman, 
Samuel  Daniel  esquire,  Michael  Drayton 
esquire,  of  the  bath,  M.  Christopher  Marlow 
gentleman,  M.  Benjamin  Jonson  gentleman; 
John  Marston  esquire,  M.  Abraham  Francis 
gentleman,   Master  Francis  Meres  gentleman, 


56  William  Shakespeare 

Master  Joshua  Sylvester,  gentleman;  Master 
Thomas  Decker,  gentleman,  M.  John  Fletcher 
gentleman,  M.  John  Webster  gentleman,  M. 
Thomas  Heywood  gentleman,  M.  Thomas 
Middleton  gentleman,  M.  George  Withers." 

There  is  nothing  here  to  be  learned  about 
Shakespeare  nor  about  the  identity  of  the  poet- 
dramatist  and  the  actor  from  Stratford.     (27) 


Since  we  can  find  no  contemporary  allusion 
definitely  declaring  the  two  Shakespeares  to 
be  one  and  the  same,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
they  were  not  regarded  as  the  same.  At  least 
we  cannot  exhibit,  as  evidence  that  the  iden- 
tity existed,  the  passages  quoted  in  this  chapter. 


Chapter  Seven. 

EVIDENCES    FROM    THE    PLAYS    AND 

POEMS. 

In  this  chapter  I  have  printed  such  docu- 
ments as  deal  directly  with  the  plays  and  poems 
published  under  the  name  William  Shakepeare 
during  the  life  time  of  William  Shakespeare  of 
Stratford.  It  did  not  seem  useful  to  try  to 
make  a  list  of  the  quartos  with  their  dates, 
nor  did  it  seem  wise  to  attempt  to  select  from 
the  plays  and  poems  any  so-called  ''self- 
revealatory"  or  "autobiographical"  passages. 
The  preface,  dedicatory  letters,  and  records 
herein  included  show  no  connection  between 
the  actor  and  the  playwright.  This  is  the  last 
link  in  our  chain  of  negative  evidence. 

1593.  In  ''Venus  and  Adonis,"  the  dedica- 
tion "To  the  Right  Honorable  Henry  Wrio- 
thesley.  Earl  of  Southampton,  and  Baron  of 
Titchfield,"  William  Shakespeare,  who  signed 
himself  "Your  honor's  in  all  duty,"  wrote: — 

"Right  Honorable,  I  know  not  how  I  shall 
offend  in  dedicating  my  unpolished  lines  to 
your  Lordship,  nor  how  the  world  will  censure 
me  for  choosing  so  strong  a  prop  to  support 
so  weak  a  burden,  only  if  your  Honor  seem  but 
pleased,  I  account  myself  highly  praised,  and 
vow  to  take  advantage  of  all  idle  hours  till  I 
have   honored   you   with   some   graver   labor. 


58  William  Shakespeare 

But  if  the  first  heir  of  my  invention  prove  de- 
formed, I  shall  be  sorry  it  had  so  noble  a  god- 
father: and  never  after  ear  so  barren  a  land 
for  fear  it  yield  me  still  so  bad  a  harvest,  I 
leave  it  to  your  Honorable  survey,  and  your 
Honor  to  your  heart's  content,  which  I  wish 
may  always  answer  your  own  wish,  and  the 
world's   hopeful   expectation."     (1) 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about  the 
identity  of  the  Stratford  actor  with  the  poet. 

1594.  In  the  dedication  to  ''The  Rape  of 
Lucrece,"  William  Shakespeare,  addressing 
again  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  and  signing 
himself  as  before,  wrote: — 

"The  love  I  dedicate  to  your  Lordship  is 
without  end:  whereof  this  pamphlet  without 
beginning  is  but  a  superfluous  moiety.  The 
warrant  I  have  of  your  honorable  disposition, 
not  the  worth  of  my  untutored  lines  makes 
it  assured  of  acceptance.  What  I  have  done 
is  yours,  what  I  have  to  do  is  yours,  being 
part  in  all  I  have,  devoted  yours.  Were  my 
worth  greater,  my  duty  would  show  greater, 
meantime,  as  it  is,  it  is  bound  to  your  Lord- 
ship; to  whom  I  wish  long  life  still  lengthened 
with  all  happiness."     (2) 

There  is  nothing  to  be  learned  here  about 
the  identity  of  the  Stratford  actor  with  the 
poet. 

1600.  Entry  at  Stationers'  Hall:  .  .  .  ''Two 
books,  the  one  called  Much  Ado  about  Noth- 
ing, the  other  the  second  part  of  the  History 
of  King  Henry  the  IVth  with  the  humors  of 


The  Plays  and  Poems  59 

Sir  John  Falstaff,  written  by  Mr.  Shakespeare." 

(3) 

1604.  In  the  Accounts  of  the  Revels  at 
court  in  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James, 
for  the  whole  year  1604  and  part  of  1605, 
''Shaxberd"  appears  as  the  poet  ''which  made 
.  the  plays"  "Measure  for  Measure,"  ''The 
Play  of  Errors,"  and  "A  Merchant  of  Venice." 
The  authenticity  of  the  insertion  of  this  name 
has  been  questioned.  It  is  needless  to  say  that, 
even  if  the  records  are  true  ones,  there  is  noth- 
ing to  be  learned  here  about  the  identity  of 
the  Stratford  actor  with  the  writer  of  the 
dramas.     (4) 

1607.  Entry  at  Stationers'  Hall:  "A  book 
called  Mr.  William  Shakespeare  his  history 
of  King  Lear  as  it  was  played  before  the  King's 
majesty  at  Whitehall."  ...     (5) 

1609.  Entry  at  Stationers'  Hall:  "En- 
tered ...  a  book  called  Shakespeare's  Son- 
nets."    (6) 

1609.  The  Quarto  of  "Troilus  and  Cres- 
seida"  was  published  this  year,  with  the  name 
William  Shakespeare  on  the  title-page  and  with 
the  following  unsigned  preface.  The  caption 
was  "A  Never  Writer  to  an  Ever  Reader." 
It  read: — 

"Eternal  reader,  you  have  here  a  new  play, 
never  staled  with  the  stage,  never  clapper- 
clawed with  the  palms  of  the  vulgar,  and  yet 
passing  full  of  the  palm  comical;  for  it  is  a 
birth  of  your  brain,  that  never  undertook  any- 
thing comical  vainly;  and  were  but  the  vain 


60  William  Shakespeare 

names  of  comedies  changed  for  the  titles  of 
commodities,  or  of  plays  for  pleas,  you  should 
see  all  those  grand  censors,  that  now  style 
them  such  vanities,  flock  to  them  for  the  main 
grace  of  their  gravities;  especially  this  au- 
thor's comedies,  that  are  so  framed  to  the  life 
that  they  serve  for  the  most  common  commen- 
taries of  all  the  actions  of  our  lives,  showing 
such  a  dexeterity  and  power  of  wit,  that  the 
most  displeased  with  plays  are  pleased  with 
his  comedies.  And  all  such  dull  and  heavy- 
witted  worldlings  as  were  never  capable  of  the 
wit  of  a  comedy,  coming  by  report  of  them  to 
his  representations,  have  found  that  wit  there 
that  they  never  found  in  themselves,  and  have 
parted  better  witted  than  they  came;  feeling 
an  edge  of  wit  set  upon  them  more  than  ever 
they  dreamed  they  had  brain  to  grind  it  on. 
So  much  and  such  favored  salt  of  wit  is  in  his 
comedies,  that  they  seem  (for  their  height  of 
pleasure)  to  be  born  in  that  sea  that  brought 
forth  Venus.  Amongst  all  there  is  none  more 
witty  than  this:  and  had  I  time  I  would  com- 
ment upon  it,  though  I  know  it  needs  not  (for 
so  much  as  will  make  you  think  your  testern 
well  bestowed),  but  for  so  much  worth  as 
even  poor  I  know  to  be  stuffed  in  it.  It  de- 
serves such  a  labor,  as  well  as  the  best  comedy 
in  Terence  or  Plautus.  And  believe  this,  that 
when  he  is  gone  and  his  comedies  out  of  sale, 
you  will  scramble  for  them,  and  set  up  a  new 
English  Inquisition.  Take  this  for  a  warning, 
and  at  the  peril  of  your  pleasure's  loss  and 


The  Plays  and  Poems  61 

judgments,  refuse  not,  nor  like  this  the  less  for 
not  being  sullied  with  the  smoky  breath  of  the 
multitude;  but  thank  fortune  for  the  scape 
it  hath  made  amongst  you,  since  by  the  grand 
possessors'  wills  I  believe  you  should  have 
prayed  for  them  rather  than  been  prayed. 
And  so  I  leave  all  such  to  be  prayed  for  (for 
the  states  of  their  wits'  healths)  that  will  not 
praise  it.     Vale."     (7) 

It  is  not  known  who  wrote  this  curious  pref- 
ace. Two  quartos  of  ''Troilus"  were  printed 
this  year,  both  exactly  alike,  except  that  one 
omitted  the  passage  just  quoted.  Who  were 
the  grand  possessors  has  never  been  satisfac- 
torily answered. 


Chapter  Eight. 

THE  FIRST   FOLIO. 

The  year  1492  is  memorable  in  the  history 
of  the  discovery  of  continents.  Equally  im- 
portant in  the  history  of  the  discovery  of  authors 
is  the  year  1623,  for  then  was  published  the 
identity  of  the  writer  of  the  Shakespeare  dramas. 
Nothing  in  the  records  of  William  Shakespeare 
of  Stratford — I  am  speaking  of  the  known 
records — had  explicitly  connected  that  actor 
and  provincial  business  man  with  the  creation 
or  the  publication  of  the  splendid  poetry. 
Nothing  in  the  contemporary  allusions  either 
to  this  gentleman  or  to  the  playwright  had 
indicated  that  either  the  inhabitants  of  Strat- 
ford or  of  London  believed  the  two  men  to  be 
the  same  man.  And  nothing  in  the  plays  or 
poems  themselves  afforded  a  clew.  The  first 
Folio  (1)  supplied  the  link.  That  given,  by 
working  backwards  the  task  of  the  biographers 
has  been  simple. 

Yet  the  First  Folio  did  not  supply  absolutely 
the  first  link,  for  the  thing  had  been  hinted  at 
some  time  between  1616  and  1623.  Some  one 
— no  one  knows  who — in  those  years  built  into 
the  wall  of  the  Stratford  church  a  monument 
in  memory  of  William  Shakespeare.  After 
1636    this    monument,*    representing    a    thin 

*  See  frontispiece. 


The  First  Folio  63 

man  with  a  down-drooping  mustache,  standing 
with  his  hands  on  a  cushion,  was  removed. 
The  man  there  sculptured  resembled  the  present 
bust  of  Shakespeare  chiefly  in  having  a  bald 
head  with  the  hair  clustered  above  the  ears 
and  in  wearing  a  jerkin  with  two  rows  of  buttons 
down  the  middle  and  a  turndown  collar.  By 
whom  altered  or  for  what  reasons  remains  in 
the  dark.  On  this  older  monument,  as  on  the 
present  one,  stood  this  inscription : — 

Judicio  Pylium,  genio  Socratem,  arte  Maronem 
Terra  tegit,  populus  moeret,  Olympus  habet. 

Stay  passenger,  why  goest  thou  by  so  fast? 
Read,   if   thou   canst,   whom   envious   death   hath 

placed 
Within  this  monument:   Shakespeare,  with  whom 
Quick  Nature  died;    whose  name  doth  deck  this 

tomb 
Far  more  than  cost,  sith  all  that  he  hath  writ 
Leaves  living  art  but  page  to  serve  his  wit. 

ObiitAno.  Doi.  1616.    Aetatis  53.    Die  23.  Ap.     (2) 

The  Latin  lines  state  that  Shakespeare  was 
a  Nestor  in  judgment,  a  Socrates  in  (philosoph- 
ical) genius,  and  in  art  a  Virgil.  ''The  earth 
hides  him,  the  people  mourn  him,  Olympus  has 
him."  Remarks  that  surely  pointed  the  way, 
but  did  not  quite  declare  the  fact.  Before 
1623  a  casual  tourist,  not  having  a  Baedeker, 
would  not  know  what  the  world  now  beheves 
it  knows. 


64  William  Shakespeare 

But  the  First  Folio  gave  definitely  to  the 
author  of  the  plays  a  local  habitation  and  a 
name.  In  the  opening  pages  of  that  volume 
are  some  poems  in  memory  of  Mr.  Shakespeare. 
In  one  of  them  L.  Digges  began: — 

Shakespeare,  at  length  thy  pious  fellows  give 
The  world  thy  works, — thy  work,  by  which,  outlive 
Thy  tomb,  thy  name  must  when  that  stone  is  rent, 
And  time  dissolves  thy  Stratford  monument.     (1) 

In  another  set  of  verses  Ben  Jonson  said : — 

Sweet  Swan  of  Avon!    What  a  sight  it  were 
To  see  thee  in  our  waters  yet  appear. 
And  make  those  flights  upon  the  banks  of  Thames 
That  so  did  take  Eliza  and  our  James!     (1) 

In  the  list  of  principal  actors  in  these  plays 
Shakespeare's  name  leads  all  the  rest.  Lastly, 
the  dedication  and  the  preface  are  signed  by 
Hemming  and  Condell,  actors,  to  each  of  whom, 
as  to  Richard  Burbage,  Shakespeare  of  Strat- 
ford had  bequeathed  some  money  to  buy  them 
rings.  Hemming  and  Condell,  who,  as  Malone 
has  practically  proved,  merely  lent  their  names 
to  what  Ben  Jonson  really  wrote,  speak  here 
definitely  of  Shakespeare  the  author  as  their 
friend  and  fellow-player.  Thus  an  identifica- 
tion of  the  two  WiUiams  was  made,  and  the 
office  of  illustrious  playwright  had  sought  and 
found  its  man. 

Besides  giving  to  the  world  an  author,  this 
First  Folio  published  for  the  first  time  several 
plays:  ''The  Tempest,"  ''Two  Gentlemen  of 
Verona/'  "Comedy  of  Errors,"  "As  You  Like 


The  First  Folio  65 

It,"  ''Measure  for  Measure/'  ''All's  WeU," 
"Twelfth  Night,"  "Winter's  Tale,"  "Third 
Part  of  Henry  VI.,"  "Henry  VIIL,"  "Timon," 
"Julius  Caesar,"  "Macbeth,"  "Antony  and 
Cleopatra,"  and  "Cymbeline."  Although  these 
had  never  been  printed  in  their  present  form, 
many  with  their  titles  had  been  presented  on  the 
stage.  "The  Taming  of  the  Shrew,"  "Timon," 
"Julius  Csesar,"  "Coriolanus,"  "All's  Well," 
and  "Henry  VIIL"  had  not  only  never  been 
printed,  but,  apparently,  had  never  been  heard 
of  at  all  in  their  present  form.  Several  plays, 
as  "Richard  III.,"  "Othello,"  "Hamlet,"  and 
"Second  Part  of  Henry  VI.,"  contained  revi- 
sions and  newly  written  matter,  admittedly  by 
Shakespeare.  From  a  legal  point  of  view  Lord 
Penzance  (3)  has  admirably  discussed  certain 
other  very  curious  inconsistencies  in  the  First 
FoHo. 

To  show  that  no  one  seems  to  have  acknowl- 
edged the  authorship  of  the  plays  till  they  were 
collected  and  published  after  the  death  of 
Shakespeare  has  been  my  task.  It  will  be 
argued  that  negative  evidence  proves  nothing; 
but  the  keenest  mind  of  the  seventeenth  century 
is  my  authority  for  quoting:  "It  is  the  pecuHar 
and  perpetual  error  of  the  human  intellect  to 
be  more  moved  and  excited  by  affirmatives  than 
by  negatives;  whereas  it  ought  properly  to 
hold  itself  indifferently  disposed  towards  both 
ahke.  Indeed,  in  the  establishment  of  any  true 
axiom,  the  negative  instance  is  the  more  forcible 


66  William  Shakespeare 

of  the  two."  My  purpose  is  not  so  much  to 
prove  or  to  disprove  as  to  correct  the  biographies 
as  they  stand  to-day.  A  single  point  further 
should  be  added. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Booth  has  shown  (4)  that  by  ap- 
plying to  the  first  and  last  pages  of  the  Shake- 
speare plays  as  printed  in  the  First  Folio,  a 
variant  of  a  commonly  used  mathematical 
cipher,  one  can  read  repeatedly  a  hidden  acros- 
tic of  the  name  of  Francis  Bacon.  The  chief 
difference  between  this  and  the  other  ciphers 
which  an  unwilling  world  has  had  to  examine 
from  time  to  time  is  the  fact  that  it  works  as 
its  discoverer  claims.  That  these  acrostics  are 
the  result  of  human  design  has  not,  as  this  book 
goes  to  press,  been  definitely  acknowledged. 
Mathematical  analysis  goes  to  show  that  in- 
tention is  manifest  and  historical  warrant  is 
not  wholly  wanting.  At  any  rate  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  in  the  only  document  iden- 
tifying William  Shakespeare  from  Stratford 
with  the  poet  the  name  of  so  illustrious  a  con- 
temporary should  be  secretly  embedded. 


EPILOGUE. 

"And  now  I  have  .  .  .  marked  the  deficiencies. 
.  .  .  Wherein  if  I  have  differed  from  the  ancient 
and  received  doctrines,  and  thereby  given  a  handle 
to  contradiction;  for  my  part,  as  I  am  far  from 
wishing  to  dissent,  so  I  purpose  not  to  contend. 
If  it  he  truth, 

Non  canimus  surdis,  respondent  omnia  silvae: 

the  voice  of  nature  will  consent,  whether  the  voice 
of  man  do  or  not.  But  as  Alexander  Borgia  was 
wont  to  say  of  the  expedition  of  the  French  to 
Naples,  '  that  they  came  ivith  chalk  in  their  hands 
to  mark  up  their  lodgings,  and  not  with  weapons 
to  break  in\'  so  I  like  better  that  entry  of  truth, 
which  comes  peaceably  as  with  chalk  to  mark  up 
those  minds  which  are  capable  to  lodge  and  harbor 
such  a  guest,  than  that  which  forces  its  way  with 
pugnacity  and  contention." — From  Francis 
Bacon's  De  Augmentis  Scientarum,  Book  III., 
Chapter  VI.     (Spedding's  translation.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

In  the  following  Bibliography  the  attempt  has  been 
made  to  refer  the  reader,  wherever  possible,  to  easily 
accessible  photographic  reproductions  or  type  fac-sim- 
iles  of  original  documents;  and,  failing  this,  to  at  least 
two  easily  accessible  books  containing  the  full  texts 
of  the  documents.  In  several  instances  these  texts  are 
not  available. 
These  abbreviations  have  been  employed: — 
H.  P.  =  "The  OutHnes  of  the  Life  of  William  Shake- 
speare," by  J.  0.  Halliwell-Phillipps.  Longmans,  Green, 
1908.— Lee  Illust.  =  "A  Life  of  WiUiam  Shakespeare," 
by  Sidney  Lee.  Illustrated  Library  Edition.  Smith  & 
Elder,  1899.— Lee  =  "A  Life  of  William  Shakespeare," 
by  Sidney  Lee.  The  Macmillan  Company,  1909. — Lam- 
bert ="Cartea  Shakespeareanae.  .  .  ."  Arranged  by 
D.  H.  Lambert.  George  Bell  &  Sons,  1904.— Allu- 
sion =  "The  Shakespeare  Allusion-Book:  A  Collection 
of  Allusions  to  Shakespeare  from  1591  to  1700.  .  .  .  Re- 
edited,  revised,  and  rearranged  with  an  introduction, 
by  John  Munro."  New  York,  Duffield  &  Co.,  1909.— 
G.  G.  G.  =  "The  Shakespeare  Problem  Re-stated," 
by  G.  G.  Greenwood.     London,  John  Lane,  1908. 

Chapter  One. 

(1)  H.  P.,  ii.  73  et  seq. 

(2)  H.  P.,  i.  68,  fac-simile. 

(3)  G.  G.  G.,  24. 

Chapter  Two. 

(1)  H.  P.,  ii.  215  et  seq. 

(2)  Fac-simile  of  the  second  draft  (in  part),  Lambert, 
19. 

(3)  Fac-simile  of  the  confirmation  of  the  draft   (in 
part),  Lambert,  35. 


70  William  Shakespeare 


Chapter  Three. 

^1)  Lee  Illust.,  8,  fac-simile. 

(2)  Lambert,  3. 

(3)  H.  P.,  ii.  55.     Lambert,  4. 

(4)  Lee  Illust.,  21,  fac-simile. 

(5)  Lee  Illust.,  23,  fac-simile. 

(6)  Lambert,  5.     H.  P.,  ii.  14  et  seq. 

(7)  Lambert,   13.     H.  P.,   i.   121. 

(8)  Lee,  194. 

(9)  Lee,  39. 
;iO)  Lee,  39. 

^11)  Lee  Illust.,  149,  fac-simile. 
^12)  Lee,  x. 
[13)  Lee,  x. 

:i4)  H.  P.,  ii.  106-107,  fac-simile. 
:i5)  H.  P.,  i.  137,  fac-simile. 

[16)  Lambert,  28.     Lee,  x. 

[17)  Lambert,  31. 
;i8)  Lee,  201. 
;i9)  H.  P.,   ii.  57.     Lambert,  27. 

(20)  Lee  Illust.,  156-157,  fac-simile.     Also  H.  P.,  i. 
166,  fac-simile. 

(21)  H.  P.,  ii.  59.     Lambert,  29. 

(22)  H.  P.,  ii.  58. 

(23)  Lee,  xiv. 

(24)  Lee,  213. 

(25)  Lee,  201. 

(26)  H.  P.,  ii.  17.     Lambert,  42. 

(27)  H.  P.,  ii.  19.     Lambert,  44. 

(28)  Lambert,  47. 

(29)  Lambert,  48. 

(30)  Lee,  240. 

(31)  H.  P.,  ii.  77. 

(32)  H.  P.,  ii.  204. 

(33)  Lee,  273. 

(34)  H.  P.,  ii.  19.     Lambert,  55. 

(35)  Lambert,  57. 


Bibliography  71 

(36)  H.  P.,  ii.  355. 

(37)  Lee  Illust.,  216,  fac-simile. 

(38)  Lambert,  59. 

(39)  Lambert,  60. 

(40)  Lee,  275. 

(41)  H.  P.,  ii.  78. 

(42)  H.  P.,  ii.  25.     Lambert,  67. 

(43)  New  York  Times,  October  3,  1909.  Also  London 
Times  of  same  date. 

(44)  H.  P.,  ii.  25.     Lambert,  65. 

(45)  H.  P.,  ii.  31.  Lambert,  75.  Also  "A  Fac- 
simile of  the  Deed  of  Bargain  and  Sale  of  Shakespeare's 
Blackfriar's  Estate.  ..."  Edited  by  J.  0.  Halliwell- 
Phillipps.     Brighton,  1884. 

(46)  H.  P.,  ii.  34.     Lambert,  77. 

(47)  Lee,  xvii. 

(48)  Lee,  278. 

(49)  H.  P.,  ii.  38-39,  fac-simile. 

(50)  H.  P.,  i.  247,  249,  fac-simile    (in  part)  and  doc 
uments  reprinted. 

(51)  Lee,  xxiii. 

(52)  Lee  Illust.,  219. 

(53)  "A  Photographic  Reproduction  of  Shakespeare's 
Will,  etc.,"  with  descriptive  letterpress  by  J.  Hain 
Friswell.  London,  S.  Low,  Son,  &  Marston,  1864. 
Also  reprinted,  H.  P.,  ii.  169  et  seq. 

(54)  Lee  Illust.,  221. 

Chapter  Four. 

(1)  "A  Photographic  Reproduction  of  Shakespeare's 
Will,  taken  by  special  permission  of  the  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Probate  and  Divorce;  with  descriptive  letter- 
press by  J.  Hain  Friswell."  London,  S.  Low,  Son, 
&  Marston,  1864.     H.  P.,  ii.  169. 


72  William  Shakespeare 

Chapter  Five. 

(1)  H.  P.,  ii.  381. 

(2)  Lee,  viii.     Allusion,  ii.  68-69. 

(3)  G.  G.  G.,  223  et  seq.,  note. 

(4)  H.  P.,  ii.  71. 

(5)  H.  P.,  ii.  76. 

(6)  Lee,  171,  note. 

(7)  Lee  lUust.,  220. 

Chapter  Six. 

(1)  Allusion,  i.  2.     H.  P.,  i.  327. 

(2)  Allusion,  i.  4.     H.  P.,  i.  328. 

(3)  "Willobie  His  Avisa."  Edited  with  an  essay  by- 
Charles  Hughes.  Sherrat  &  Hughes,  London,  1904. 
H.  P.,  ii.  147.     Allusion,  i.  9. 

(4)  "Coincidences  Bacon  and  Shakespeare,"  by- 
Edwin  Reed  (Boston,  Coburn  PubUshing  Company, 
1906),  10,  11,  fac-simile.     Allusion,  i.  23. 

(5)  "The  Pilgrimage  to  Parnassus  with  the  Two 
Parts  of  the  Return  from  Parnassus,"  edited  by 
W.  D.  Macray.  (Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1886), 
56,  57,  58,  63.  G.  G.  G.,  326,  327  (in  part).  Allusion, 
i.  67. 

(6)  "Northumberland  Manuscript:  Collotype  Fac- 
simile and  Type  Transcript."  Edited  by  F.  J.  Burgoyne. 
Longmans,  Green,  1904. 

(7)  "An  English  Garner,  Critical  Essays  and  Liter- 
ary Fragments,"  with  an  introduction  by  J.  Churton 
Collins  (New  York,  E.  P.  Button),  11.  H.  P.,  ii.  149. 
Allusion,  i.  46. 

(8)  "The  English  Scholar's  Library  of  Old  and  Mod- 
ern Works:  Richard  Barnfield  .  .  .  Poems,"  edited  by 
Edwin  Arber  (London,  Archibald  Constable,  1895), 
120.     H.  P.,  ii.  148.     Allusion,  i.  51. 

(9)  H.  P.,  ii.  151.    Allusion,  i.  24. 

(10)  "Bodenham's    Belvedere."     Reprinted  from  the 


Bibliography  73 

original  edition  for  the  Spenser  Society,  1895.     H.  P., 
ii.  151.     Allusion,  i.  72 

(11)  H.  P.,  ii.  82,  fac-simile.  Allusion,  i.  98.  See 
(12). 

(12)  "The  Diary  of  John  Manningham,"  edited  by 
John  Bruce  (Westminster:  Printed  by  J.  B.  Nichols, 
1868),  39.     Allusion,  i.  99. 

(13)  See  (5),  87.     G.  G.  G.,  327.     Allusion,  i.  69,  102. 

(14)  See  (5),  138.     G.  G.  G.,  321.     Allusion,  i.  102. 

(15)  Allusion,  i.  124.     H.  P.,  ii.  152. 

(16)  Allusion,  i.  140.     H.  P.,  ii.  152. 

(17)  "  Daiphantus  or  the  Passions  of  Love,  by  Anthony 
Scloker,"  edited  by  A.  B.  Grosart  (1880),  3.  H.  P.,  ii. 
152.     Allusion,  i.  133. 

(18)  Lambert,  55.     H.  P.,  ii.  152.     Allusion,  i.  127. 

(19)  Allusion,  i.  175.     H.  P.,  ii.  153. 

(20)  Allusion,  i.  213. 

(21)  Allusion,  i.  164. 

(22)  "The  Complete  Works  of  John  Davies  of  Here- 
ford," edited  by  A.  B.  Grosart  (1878).  "The  Scourge  of 
Folly,"  18.     H.  P.,  ii.  154.     Allusion,  i.  219. 

(23)  "The  Dramatic  Works  of  John  Webster,"  edited 
by  William  Hazlitt  (London,  J.  R.  Smith,  1857), 
ii.  7.     H.  P.,  ii.  154.     Allusion,  i.  233. 

(24)  H.  P.,  ii.  154.     Allusion,  i.  27. 

(25)  See  (18). 

(26)  Allusion,  i.  245.     H.  P.,  ii.  155. 

(27)  "Some  Acrostic  Signatures  of  Francis  Bacon," 
by  William  Stone  Booth  (Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin 
Company,   1909),  25,  fac-simile.     H.  P.,  ii.  155. 


Chapter  Seven. 

(1)  "Shakespeare's    Venus    and    Adonis,"    fac-simile 
of  the  first  edition.     Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,   1905. 

(2)  "Shakespeare's   Lucrece,"   fac-simile   of   the   first 
edition.     Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,   1905. 

(3)  Lambert,  38. 


74  WiUiam  Shakespeare 

(4)  Lambert.  53.     H.  P..  ii.  160. 

(5)  Lambert.  59. 

(6)  Lambert.  63. 

(7)  AUusion,  i.  207. 

Chapter  Eight. 

(1)  "The  First  Edition  of  the  Works  of  William 
Shakespeare  in  Reduced  Fac-simile  from  the  First  Folio 
Edition  of  1623."  with  an  introduction  by  J.  0.  Halli- 
well-Phillipps.  London.  Chatto  ».V:  Windus.  1S76.  Also 
"Mr.  WiUiam  Shakespeare's  Comedies.  Histories,  and 
Tragedies."  collot^-pe  fac-simile.  with  an  introduction 
by  Sidney  Lee.  Oxford.  Clarendon  Press.  1902. 
"(2)  H.  P.,  i.  2S4.  fac-simile. 

(3)  "The  Bacon-Shakespeare  Controversy:  A  Judi- 
cial Summing-up."  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  James  Plaisted 
Wilde.  Baron  Penzance.  1902. 

V4)  "Some  Acrostic  Signatures  of  Francis  Bacon," 
by  William  Stone  Booth.  Boston.  Houghton,  Mifflin 
Company,  1909. 


INDEX. 

"A  Mournful  Ditty  entitled  Elizabeth's  Loss" 48 

Addenbroke,  John 19 

Alleyn 15 

"Allusion-Book,  The  Shakespeare" 69 

Allusions 1,  9 

Arber,  Edward 72 

Arden,  Mary 12 

Aubrey 31 

Bacon,  Francis iv,  39,  66,  67 

Bacon,  Matthew     22 

Barksted,  William 50 

Barnfield,  Richard 42 

Bel-vedere 43 

Betterton 4 

Bibliography 69-74 

Bolton,  Edmund      50 

Booth,  W.  S 66,  73 

Bruce,  John 73 

Burbage 15,  20,  47 

Burgoyne,  F.  J 72 

Bushell 17 

Butts,  Joseph 7 

Camden's  "Remains" .    .    .  49,  53 

Chettle 33-35 

Clayton,  John 18 

Clodpate 5 

Coat-of-arms 13 

Collins,  J.  Churton      72 

Combe,  John 20,  31 

Commendatory  verses 8 

Davies,  John 52 

Davies,  Richard 4,  6 

"De  Augmentis  Scientiarum" 67 

Deer  park 7 


76  William  Shakespeare 

Deer-stealing 2,  3,  4,  5 

"Daiphantus" 49 

Digges,  L 64 

Dirty  Gretton 32 

Disinfecting  Shakespeare 3 

"Doubtless" 1,5 

Drummond,  William 51 

Dugdale,  Sir  William frontispiece 

Egerton,  Lord  Chancellor 22 

"Epigrams"  by  I.  C 48 

"  Epigrams  in  the  Oldest  Cut  and  Newest  Fashion  "    ...  43 

Epitaph  at  Stratford 32 

Epsom  Wells 5 

Evidence  from  the  plays  and  poems 57 

"Expurgated" 10 

Fitton,  Mary 2 

Fleay,  F.  G 8,  10 

Folio,  The  First 62-66 

Freeman,  Thomas 54 

Friswell,  J.  Hain      71 

Fulman,  William 4 

"Gardenof  the  Muses,  The" 43 

"Great  Instauration,  The" iv 

Greene,  J 21 

Greene,  Robert 33 

Greene,  Thomas 20 

Greenwood,  G.  G 69 

Grosart,  A.  B 73 

Hackett,  John 30 

Hall,  John 19 

Halliwell-Phillipps,  J.  0 69 

Hathaway,  Anne 15 

Hazlitt,  WiUiam 73 

Hemming,  John 20 

Hemming  and  Condell 64 

Henslowe 9 

Hughes,  Charles 72 

"  Hypercritica " 50 


Index  77 

Identity  of  William  Shakespeare 10 

Jackson,  John 20 

Johnson,  WilUam 20 

Jonson,  Ben 10,  30,  47,  64 

Kempe 15,  47 

Lambert,  D.H 69 

Lambert,  John 15 

Lee,  Sidney 8,  14,  69 

Lucas,  T 21 

Luces 30 

"Lucrece,  TheRapeof" 58 

Lucy,  Sir  Thomas 4-7,  30 

Macray,  W.  D 72 

Mannering 21 

Manningham,  John 10,  44 

Massey,  Gerald 3,  6 

"Mirrha,  the  Mother  of  Adonis" 50 

Mr.  W.  H 2 

Mytton     17 

Negative  evidence 65 

Non  cauimus  surdis,  etc 67 

Northumberland  MS 10,  38 

"  Palladia  Tamia" 41 

Penzance,  Lord 65,  74 

Phillips,  Augustine 19 

Plume,  Archdeacon 30 

Poaching 2,  3,  4 

"Poems  in  Divers  Humors"     42 

"Polimanteia" 36 

Province  of  the  biographer 11 

Quiney,  Adrian 18 

Quiney,  Richard 16,  17,  18 

Rabbits 4,  7 

"Records"  and  "allusions" 14 


78  William  Shakespeare 

Reed,  Edwin 72 

Replyngham 21 

"Return  from  Parnassus,  The" 37,46 

Revue  des  Deux  Mondes 3 

Rosswell 17 

Rowe,  Nicholas iii,  3,  6, 32 

Rowington  Muster  Roll 19 

Rutland,  Earl  of 20 

Scloker,  Anthony 73 

"Scourgeof  Folly,  The" 52 

Shake-scene 35 

Shakespeare,  Anna 13,  15 

Shakespeare,  Edmund 13, 19 

Shakespeare,  Gilbert 12 

Shakespeare,  Hamnet 15,  16 

Shakespeare,  Joan 12 

Shakespeare,  John 12,  13 

coat-of-arms 13 

Shakespeare,  Judith 15,  22 

Shakespeare,  Margaret 12 

Shakespeare,  Mary     19 

Shakespeare,  Richard 13 

Shakespeare,  Susanna 15,  19 

Shakespeare,  WiUiam,  acts  in  "Every  Man  in  his  Humor,"     16 

acts  in  "Sej anus" 18 

allusions 1, 33 

assessed  at  St.  Helen's 15 

baptized 12,  14 

burial 23 

buys  arable  land 18 

buys  house  in  Blackfriars 20 

buys  land  at  Blackfriars 20 

buys  stone 16 

Chapel  Street 16 

coat-of-arms 18 

commendatory  verses  by 8 

copyhold  estate 19 

cottage  in  Chapel  Lane 18,  19 

deer-stealing 2-5 

defaulter  on  taxes .     16 

enclosing  common  lands 20 


Index  79 

Shakespeare,  William,  epitaph 32 

estate  fined 19 

First  Folio 62-66 

godfather 19 

identity 10 

Kempe  and  Burbage 15 

lawsuit 20 

Lord  Chamberlain's  company  ...     18 

marriage  license 15 

New  Place 16 

other  Lives  of 1 

owns  corn 16 

papist 5 

petitions  Lord  Chancellor 22 

plants  fruit  orchard 18 

poaching 2,  3 

poems  ascribed  to 29-32 

recovers  a  debt 18 

spelling  of  his  name 1 

Stationers'  Hall 58,  59 

Stratford  tithes 16,  20 

sues  J.  Addenbroke 19 

sues  Philip  Rogers 19 

trained  soldier 19 

walks  in  a  procession 18 

will 22,  23-28 

Shallow,  Justice 6 

"Shaxberd" 59 

Signature,  Acrostic 66,  73 

Snitterfield 12 

Spedding iv,  67 

Southampton,  Earl  of 57,  58 

Southwark 15 

Stationers'  Hall  Register 58,  59 

Stow's  "Annals" 55 

Stratford  monument 62,  63 

Sturley,  Abraham 16, 17 

Times,  The  London 71 

Times,  The  New  York 71 

"Troilus  and  Cressida,"  Preface 59 


80  Williain  Shakespeare 

"  Venus  and  Adonis  " 57 

Verulam,  Lord 10 

Walker,  William 19 

Walker,  Henry 20 

Wallace,  Professor,  recent  discoveries 71 

Webster 52 

Weever,  John 43 

Welcombe 21 

Whately,  Anne 15 

"White  Devil" 52 

"WillobiehisAvisa" 36 

Wilmecote 15 

Withington,  Thomas 15 

Worcester  Register 14 


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